Georgia lies between the West and East, has a varied geography, urban/rural populations with different needs and cultures. But it is at the forefront in tackling the interface between human animal, plant and ecosystem wellbeing. This is a huge challenge, but it took this on is a promising sign that more will happen.
One Health in Georgia: A bit of History
Georgian One Health initiatives began in 2022, when a Georgian multisectoral working group was established, led by the National Center for Disease Control (NCDC) under the Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Labour, Health, and Social Affairs of Georgia. This working group involved representatives from different entities including the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture, as well as international experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC).
What emerged was development of a One Health Action Plan (“Plan”) adopted in 2023, covering the period 2023-2025. The basic Plan addresses ways to strengthen national capacity to prevent, detect, and respond to zoonotic diseases, antimicrobial resistance, and food safety risks through a coordinated, multisectoral approach linking human, animal, and environmental health.
One Health Action Plan Goals
Its core objectives are to improve state-level surveillance systems, interagency coordination, risk assessment, and workforce capacity, while aligning with international standards and public health security goals.
In this light, among key One Health challenges, emphasis has been placed on addressing the limited coordination among major stakeholders at local levels, insufficient qualified personnel, limited early detection systems (especially in farms), gaps in antimicrobial resistance monitoring (particularly in the food chain), low public awareness, and fragmented data systems.
The Role of Academia in Achieving Georgia’s One Health Plan
Academic institutions have a critical role to play in bringing their relevant One Health expertise to bear in providing knowledge and research evidence for policy development, and in supporting training and capacity building (especially given the identified gaps in qualified
professionals), and contributing to awareness and education efforts on zoonotic diseases, antimicrobial resistance, and environmental protection.
To accelerate the effort, the University of Georgia, a leading private academic institution in Georgia, in 2024 established the One Health Institute (OHI), whose purpose is to contribute to tackling One Health’s existing and future challenges, both locally and globally. Using its own
resources, the University invested in putting in place the initial infrastructure needed, in establishing the Silico Laboratory of Functional Genomics and Proteomics (LFGP) and the Laboratory of Microbial Genetics and Ecology.
The aim of these laboratories has been to carry out genome surveillance of important foodborne and zoonotic pathogens, as well as the molecular epidemiology of antimicrobial resistance. While the equipping of the BSL-2 level Laboratory of Microbial Genetics and Ecology is to be concluded in the near future, the LFGP has been operational since 2024. It has contributed to greater understanding of the evolutionary dynamics and microbial donor-recipient-driven global transmission networks of several important antimicrobial resistance genes, as well as molecular mechanisms underlying bacteriophage–host interactions.
A disease specific example in Georgia
Dog rabies is one of OHI’s key targets for research and has had coordinated efforts in urban settings to tag and control rabies risks from dogs. Although gradually declining, dog rabies continues to emerge and remains relevant in light of the global 2030 goal set by the World
Organization for Animal Health (WOAH), WHO, and FAO to eliminate dog-mediated human rabies deaths.
Earlier research, conducted by OHI members prior to the Institute’s establishment, suggests that wild animals, such as jackals, may act as transmission sources of rabies in dogs, while dog-to-dog and dog-to-cattle transmission has also been observed. This is a One Health example of how disease dynamics in one domain can significantly affect other domains, including agricultural sectors.
Sharing research both nationally and globally
The OHI has published its findings in well-respected international scientific journals such as Frontiers in Microbiology, BMC Microbiology, Scientific Reports, and Virus Evolution. These studies provide important insights into the transmission trajectories and evolutionary trends of antimicrobial resistance, as well as key evolutionary patterns of bacteriophages, including those with high industrial importance for use in food safety, biocontrol, and related
areas. OHI research has been accepted for oral and poster presentations at the International Annual Meeting organized by the European One Health Association (EOHA), which will be held on May 18–20 in Madrid this year.
Collectively, OHI studies represent an exciting and innovative modeling approach to delineate existing trends and predict future evolution in antimicrobial resistance transmission, as well as in designing more advanced phage application strategies for human and animal treatments, and for food and environmental safety.
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The Multisectoral Challenge
At the national level
Given the large, multisectoral, and interdisciplinary nature of the One Health approach, along with its multilayered and multidimensional challenges, strategic partnerships are needed with both state entities and academic institutions specializing in One Health, locally and
internationally.
At the local level, last year the University of Georgia co-signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with the NCDC of Georgia, the Scientific-Research Center of Agriculture (SRCA) of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia, and the private
research institute, the G. Natadze Scientific-Research Institute of Sanitary, Hygiene and Medical Ecology (GNHI). In the same year, the University also entered into a Memorandum of Cooperation with Ilia State University.
Taken together, these memorandums reflect close cooperation among the institutions in One Health, including exchange of expertise, provision of training as needed, sharing research outcomes, and development of joint project proposals. A One Health workshop in Georgia is planned in the autumn of this year. This workshop will be significantly supported by EOHA to strengthen One Health networks and advance cooperation between Georgian and European One Health efforts.
At the international level
The One Health Institute has established close cooperation and is an accepted member of the European One Health Association, thereby contributing to global One Health initiatives. In this capacity, OHI, as a Governing Board member, has actively contributed to the activities of EOHA’s Research Committee and closely cooperated with several of its members.
Leveraging EOHA membership, the research team of OHI has received training in Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) and metagenomic analyses, strengthening their capacity to contribute to or initiate genome surveillance of foodborne and zoonotic agents, including Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes, and Campylobacter. In future, OHI intends to conduct metagenomic studies focusing on detecting and monitoring potential antimicrobial resistance reservoirs across soil and aquatic environments in Georgia and beyond.
The OHI team considers the overwhelming presence and diversity of antimicrobial resistance genes — particularly those involved in efflux mechanisms — as indicators of chemical pollution and multidrug-resistance reservoirs. This hypothesis is supported by earlier findings, including a study conducted by OHI researchers in collaboration with the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), as well as a recent study by an international team from Argentina, Germany, and Switzerland.
Future One Health Financing
While the University of Georgia plans to allocate a modest budget for OHI research and activities, the Institute continues to explore grant financing opportunities. Local funding opportunities for One Health research initiatives — for both state and private universities — are extremely limited or virtually absent. This has been further exacerbated by the country’s recent pivoting away from its previously established efforts at European Union integration, as well as with the weakening of long-standing partnerships with governmental and non-governmental institutions of the United States.
Moreover, the enactment of the law “On the Transparency of Foreign Influence,” together with the amendments to the Law of Georgia “On Grants,” introduced in 2024 and 2026, respectively, has created substantial interpretative ambiguity. As a result, these legal provisions may be applied in a highly subjective manner. Collectively these regulatory changes risk significantly constraining access to international funding sources and may hinder scientific collaboration, including academic exchange programs and visiting scholar activities with foreign partners, particularly those from the European Union and the United States.
Continuing the Georgian One Health Efforts
OHI will continue to explore opportunities to establish, maintain, and further strengthen One Health collaborative ties with institutions from the European Union, the United States, and other countries in One Health and related fields. We are committed to Georgians as well as the
global community, to make our collective lives better building on a One Health approach.
Editor’s Note: The opinions expressed here by the authors are their own, not those of impakter.com — Cover Photo Credit: Dogancan Ozturan.
