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Animals as Sentinels of Human Environmental Health Hazards: An Evidence-Based Analysis

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Abstract

Despite recognition that animals could be serving as “sentinels” for environmental risks to human health, there are no evidence-based guidelines for the use of animal sentinel data in human health decision making. We performed a systematic review of the animal sentinel literature to assess the evidence linking such events to human health. A search of MEDLINE identified peer-reviewed original studies of animals as sentinels for either chemical or biological environmental hazards. A limited search of the CAB and AGRICOLA databases was also performed. We classified a random sample of 100 studies from the MEDLINE search according to species, hazard, and health outcome examined; study methods; and linkages to human health. Animal sentinel studies were difficult to locate in MEDLINE because of a lack of adequate key words for this concept. We found significant limitations in the study methods used to investigate animal sentinel events. Clear linkages to human health were frequently absent. Studies of sentinel events in animal populations hold potential for the recognition and control of human environmental health hazards, yet a number of barriers exist to using such data for evidence-based human health decisions. There is a need for greater data sharing and cooperative research between human and animal health professionals regarding environmental hazards and health outcomes in animal and human populations.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the Advisory Board members (Joanna Burger, Mark Cullen, Peter Dazsak, Anne Fairbrother, Durland Fish, Henry Gardner, Tracey McNamara, Perry Miller, Constance Rinaldo, and Judith Zelikoff) for their help in the development of sentinel study inclusion and classification criteria. They also thank Jan Glover for assistance with bibliographic searches, Martin Slade for statistical consulting, and Courtney Fleming, Elizabeth Malarney, and Marianne Chai for document retrieval. This project was supported in part by a National Library of Medicine Communications Systems Grant 1 G08 LM07881-01.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Yale Occupational and Environmental Medicine Program, Yale University School of Medicine, 135 College Street, New Haven, CT, 06510, USA

    Peter M. Rabinowitz, Zimra Gordon, Rebecca Holmes & Brynn Taylor

  2. Rippowam Animal Hospital, Stamford, CT, USA

    Zimra Gordon

  3. Yale University School of Public Health Library, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA

    Matthew Wilcox

  4. Yale Center for Medical Informatics, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA

    Daniel Chudnov & Prakash Nadkarni

  5. United States Geological Survey National Wildlife Health Center, Madison, WI, USA

    F. Joshua Dein

Authors
  1. Peter M. Rabinowitz
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  2. Zimra Gordon
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  3. Rebecca Holmes
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  4. Brynn Taylor
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  5. Matthew Wilcox
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  6. Daniel Chudnov
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  7. Prakash Nadkarni
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  8. F. Joshua Dein
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Peter M. Rabinowitz.

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Rabinowitz, P.M., Gordon, Z., Holmes, R. et al. Animals as Sentinels of Human Environmental Health Hazards: An Evidence-Based Analysis. EcoHealth 2, 26–37 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10393-004-0151-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10393-004-0151-1

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