Zoonotic Disease Surveillance – Inventory of Systems Integrating Human and Animal Disease Information

Abstract

Although 65% of recent major disease outbreaks throughout the world have a zoonotic origin, there is still a sharp division among the disciplines into the human and animal health sectors. In the last few decades, a global integrative concept, often referred to as 'One Health', has been strongly endorsed. Surveillance and monitoring efforts are major components for effective disease prevention and control. As human health and animal health are inextricably linked, it is assumed that a cross-sectoral data interpretation of zoonotic disease information will improve their prevention, prediction and control. To provide an overview of existing systems throughout the world which integrate information from humans and animals on zoonotic diseases, a literature review was conducted. Twenty projects were identified and described regarding their concepts and realization. They all vary widely depending on their surveillance purpose, their structure and the source of information they use. What they have in common is that they quite often use data which have already been collected for another purpose. Therefore, the challenges of how to make use of such secondary data are of great interest.

The use of animals as a surveillance tool for monitoring environmental health hazards, human health hazards and bioterrorism

“…A likely reason is that human and animal health surveillance efforts mostly stem from disparate initiatives, resulting in data being kept in entirely separate databases (Scotch et al, 2009). There is thus an increasing need for interdisciplinary integration between human and veterinary medicine, and communication before we can completely exploit the benefits of animals for surveillance (Bisdorff et al, 2016;Wendt et al, 2015). To this end, committees have been established to increase awareness of the mutual reliance between human, animal, plant, microbial, and ecosystem health (Rabinowitz et al, 2013).…”

The challenges of implementing an integrated One Health surveillance system in Australia

“…In Australia, the government spends around two billion dollars annually managing zoonotic diseases (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, ). From both economic and population health perspectives, it is imperative to understand zoonotic epidemiology to focus on the surveillance of zoonoses with an integrated approach (Hinchliffe, ; Taylor et al., ; Wendt, Kreienbrock, & Campe, ). Health surveillance in Australia operates at both state and national levels and is the ongoing systematic collection and interpretation of health‐related data (Australian Government Department of Health, ).…”

Epizootological and epidemiological aspects for rabies in Ukraine for the period from 1999 to 2018

“…У грудні 2015 року ВООЗ і Всесвітня організація охорони здоров'я тварин (МБЕ) у співпраці з Продовольчою і сільськогосподарською організацією ООН (ФАО) і Глобальним альянсом боротьби проти сказу оголосили про глобальну програму з ліквідації смертності людей від сказу до 2030 року. Ця ініціатива свідчить про те, що світові представництва охорони здоров'я людей і тварин уперше ухвалили спільну стратегію боротьби проти цього небезпечного зоонозу (De Pijper, Stijnis, & Grobusch, 2018;Shlim, 2018;Wendt, Kreienbrock, & Campe, 2015;World Health Organization, accessed June 18, 2018;World Health Organization, accessed June 6, 2018;World Health Organization, accessed June 14, 2018).…”