One Health in Action: How Treating Animals Protects People
In 2024, IVO sponsored a Tribhuvan University veterinary student's research study. As part of that research, a survey conducted in Nepal's Manang-Chame corridor turned up two very different findings. Rabies awareness was high (86%). Awareness of other zoonoses like brucellosis was far lower, and nearly 12% of farmers still drank unpasteurized milk, a common transmission route.
That gap says something important: awareness of one disease doesn't protect you from all the others. It's exactly the kind of gap that IVO's 2024-25 programming — from Nepal to Kenya to Tanzania to Martinez, CA, and Warm Springs, Oregon — was built to close.
This is the idea at the center of One Health: human health, animal health, and environmental health aren't separate problems. They're one system.
“Treat animals, and you're treating people. Not metaphorically. Literally,” says IVO Founder and CEO Eric Eisenman.
Nepal: Where Knowledge Gaps Hide in Plain Sight
A household survey of 85 families, conducted with Tribhuvan University, found strong rabies awareness but far weaker knowledge of less visible diseases like brucellosis and toxoplasmosis. The key insight: general education level predicted safer practices better than access to veterinary care did. Sustained education, not just clinical visits, is what changes behavior long-term.
Kenya: When Livestock Health Determines Coexistence
Around Amboseli National Park, IVO and the Amboseli Trust for Elephants launched a One Health, One Welfare initiative to improve livestock health, strengthen veterinary services, and support coexistence between Maasai communities and wildlife. A survey across seven group ranches identified the barriers standing in the way: limited access to water, veterinary care, medicines, and vaccines.
Those findings are now guiding a multi-year strategy to expand veterinary services, build local capacity, and increase community education — work aimed at improving animal welfare, protecting endangered elephants, and supporting more resilient communities across the Amboseli landscape.
Tanzania: Vaccination as Frontline Public Health
In Mpwapwa, IVO delivered 182 free rabies vaccinations in a single clinic. Across the broader 2024 mission, teams administered 347 vaccines and trained 39 local vets, paravets, and students, building a public health corridor one animal at a time.
Warm Springs, Oregon: Care That Respects Culture and Land
IVO's Warm Springs Horse Herd Health and Welfare Program launched in 2025, reaching 77 horses with vaccinations, castrations, dental care, and more — while training 36 veterinary students in culturally responsive care alongside the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs.
Martinez, California: Steady, High-Volume Impact
Not every One Health story starts overseas. IVO's spay/neuter clinic in partnership with Contra Costa Humane Society ran nearly year-round, altering, vaccinating, and treating 98 at-risk animals in 2024 and 110 in 2025 — while training over 100 veterinary students across both years.
The Common Thread
Unpasteurized milk in Nepal, grazing pressure in Kenya, unvaccinated dogs in Tanzania, under-resourced clinics in Martinez, working horses in Warm Springs — different symptoms of the same condition: animal health systems that need more support. IVO's answer is clinical care paired with local capacity-building, one community at a time.
Still Going Strong in 2026
These numbers reflect 2024-25, but IVO's momentum hasn't slowed. We're midway through 2026, and the work continues: new clinics, new students trained, new communities reached. The mission stays the same. Treat animals, and you're treating people.
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In June 2025, IVO partnered with Animal Smile Africa and Visele Livecrop Skills Training Centre on a multiday wellness clinic in Mpwapwa, providing 182 free rabies vaccinations and neutering five dogs — a first step toward humane population control in a region where it's not yet common practice. Fifteen Visele students gained hands-on training.
In 2024, IVO sponsored a Tribhuvan University veterinary student's research study in Nepal. These findings will help shape targeted, education-focused interventions in the next phase of programming.
