Pigs and humans have shared influenza A viruses (IAV) since at least 1918, and many interspecies transmission events have been documented since that time. However, despite this interplay, relatively little is known regarding IAV circulating in swine around the world compared with the avian and human knowledge base. This gap in knowledge impedes our understanding of how viruses adapted to swine or man impacts the ecology and evolution of IAV as a whole and the true impact of swine IAV on human health. The pandemic H1N1 that emerged in 2009 underscored the need for greater surveillance and sharing of data on IAV in swine. In this paper, we review the current state of IAV in swine around the world, highlight the collaboration between international organizations and a network of laboratories engaged in human and animal IAV surveillance and research, and emphasize the need to increase information in high-priority regions. The need for global integration and rapid sharing of data and resources to fight IAV in swine and other animal species is apparent, but this effort requires grassroots support from governments, practicing veterinarians and the swine industry and, ultimately, requires significant increases in funding and infrastructure.

This paper describes the global distribution and temporal evolution of bovine brucellosis due to Brucella abortus during a 19‐year period (1996–2014) using the information officially reported to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) by veterinary services of 156 countries. Variables that can influence the health status of bovine brucellosis (i.e., year, per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP), continent and bovine population) were also analysed. Countries were classified into three categories of health situations: ENZOOTIC: countries infected, which may have been free of brucellosis but for periods of fewer than 3 years; NON‐ENZOOTIC: countries where the disease was present but that had at least a 3‐year period without the disease; and FREE: countries where the disease remained absent during the whole period. The countries free from bovine brucellosis, or in the process of eradication, were located in Oceania and Europe, while the more affected regions were Central and South America, Africa and parts of Asia. Among the Non‐Enzootic countries, the results showed that a very high proportion managed to control the disease during the period of study, with a sharp decline in the percentage of infected countries from 71% in 1996 to 10% in 2014. Among the Enzootic countries, a much smaller proportion managed to control the disease, with a slight drop in the percentage of infected countries from 92% in 1996 to 80% in 2014. A relationship was found between the status of the disease and the availability of economic resources; thus, countries with a high GDP per capita tended to be free from bovine brucellosis. On the other hand, countries with a larger bovine population showed a greater probability to have the disease present. An increase in surveillance programmes and implementation of control policies were observed during the period of study.

Host species diversity can affect disease risk, but the precise nature of this effect is disputed. To date, most studies on the diversity–disease relationships have focused on host species richness and single diseases, ignoring phylogenetic diversity and disease richness. We first evaluated the effects of wildlife assemblage variables (i.e. species richness of wild ungulates and carnivores, phylogenetic structure) and livestock host density on the regional occurrence of 19 individual livestock diseases in Africa. We then explored the relationships between wildlife assemblage variables and the total disease burden (measured as disease richness) at regional scale across the entire continent of Africa. Our results suggest that wild ungulate and carnivore species richness had a positive relationship with disease richness, but no relationship with disease occurrence. When controlling for host species richness, standardized phylogenetic divergence was negatively correlated with both disease richness and disease occurrence while standardized phylogenetic richness was positively correlated with disease occurrences. Our results suggest that the phylogenetic structure of the surrounding wildlife assemblage can shape patterns of livestock diseases in Africa. Species richness alone is apparently inadequate for analyses of disease–diversity relationships, and this shortfall might partly account for current disagreements over the importance of the dilution effect. Future studies on this topic should strive to include parameters that take host phylogeny into account. A plain language summary is available for this article.

Rabies is listed as one of the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Neglected Tropical Diseases Worldwide, with a significant impact in South America. This paper explores the dynamics of rabies cases in humans, pets (dogs and cats), livestock and wildlife (bats in particular) in South America during the period 2009–2018. The data used in this study were derived from the two main databases for rabies in South America: the OIE-WAHIS from the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and PANAFTOSA’s Regional Information System for the Epidemiological Surveillance of Rabies (SIRVERA). Being a neglected disease with possible underreporting in some areas, the reported rabies cases may not always represent the real disease burden. The analysis focuses on the evolution of the number of cases in time and their spatial distribution, as well as on the main source of infections in humans, determined by laboratory assays of the antigenic variant or through epidemiological investigations. Additionally, Generalised Linear Mixed Models (GLMM) were used to evaluate the risk factors associated with the occurrence of human cases. Our results show that the highest impact of the disease in terms of number of cases was reported on livestock, while the overall number of cases (in animals and humans) progressively decreased along the study period. The spatial distribution of rabies in livestock showed two main clusters in the north-western (mainly Colombia) and in the south-eastern part of the affected area (Brazil), and a third smaller cluster in Peru. A cluster in dogs was observed in Bolivia. Out of the 192 human cases reported during the study period, 70% of them were transmitted by bats. The number of human cases reported during the study period were significantly associated with the number of rabies cases reported in livestock, pets and wildlife. Despite the overall decreasing case report rate, the disease still represents a major animal and public health concern in South America, and new strategies for compiling systematic information, networking and education are needed, as well as the education and training of veterinary staff.

Global economic impacts of epidemics suggest high return on investment in prevention and One Health capacity. However, such investments remain limited, contributing to persistent endemic diseases and vulnerability to emerging ones. An interdisciplinary workshop explored methods for country-level analysis of added value of One Health approaches to disease control. Key recommendations include: 1. systems thinking to identify risks and mitigation options for decision-making under uncertainty; 2. multisectoral economic impact assessment to identify wider relevance and possible resource-sharing, and 3. consistent integration of environmental considerations. Economic analysis offers a congruent measure of value complementing diverse impact metrics among sectors and contexts.