Mongolia

Mongolia has a rich biodiversity, however its valuable natural resources are under threat and there are substantial risks of zoonotic disease spillover in the country. There have been several instances of zoonotic disease spillover during the last decade. A prominent example is re-emergence of bubonic plague, caused by Yersinia pestis. The disease is primarily transmitted through bites by fleas from rodents, but several cases have also been associated with consumption of Siberian marmots (Marmota sibirica). In addition, climate change will drive the number of viral transmissions across species in the coming decades. Climate-change shifts in precipitation patterns and temperatures may increase the spread of other vector-borne diseases through increasing ranges of insect vectors and avian influenza through altered migration patterns of birds.

Through the Expression of Interest (EOI) launched in August 2022, Mongolia has been selected as one of six recipient countries for the first phase of the N4H Initiative to reduce the risk and impact of future zoonotic epidemics and pandemics by strengthening environmental aspects of One Health, a multidisciplinary inclusive approach, and advance global efforts in upstream pandemic prevention.

The World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) has been nominated as Convening Partner to support Mongolia and Country Partners to engage across sectors and communities at different societal levels to catalyse integrated policies, evidence-based action and capacity development for impact locally, nationally and regionally. The N4H application was prepared by Mongolia in October 2022, and was endorsed by Country Partners, three ministries: Ministry of Food, Agriculture, and Light Industry (MoFALI), and Ministry of Nature, Ministry of Health (MoH), Environment and Tourism (MNET) now Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MECC).

Building on the application submitted by Mongolia, WOAH submitted a Scoping Project Document to conduct a systemic inquiry together with Country Partners and key stakeholders and aim to identify how to address potential health risks through ‘upstream’ or primary prevention and design concrete interventions to tackle the root causes of disease emergence at the environment-health interface. The Scoping project will conclude with an Implementation Project Document (IPD) outlining how N4H – working through its Partners in different countries – will reduce the risk of pandemics by employing preventative One Health approaches.

As part of the scoping phase, WOAH has organised a series of the scoping workshops from December 2023 to March 2024 in Ulaanbaatar in both in-person and virtual formats to accommodate as many stakeholders as possible to participate. Key findings from the scoping phase are six main issues, including：

• establishing coordination protocols to foster interdisciplinary collaboration,

• launching One Health communication to relevant targeted groups, especially herders and scholars (children),

• improving multisectoral data sharing,

• building capacity and reinforcing education, increasing knowledge on diseases at the environment-human-livestock interface，

• Addressing wildlife health concerns are the cornerstones envisioned.

With the scoping results, WOAH and the core team are currently developing a proposal for the Implementation Phase to submit for the N4H’s approval.