Surveillance And Information Sharing Operational Tool

Zoonotic diseases pose risks to both animal and human health and impact livelihoods, economies, and national and global food and health security. Surveillance is an essential part of prevention and control of zoonotic diseases but cannot be effectively addressed by one sector alone. A collaborative, One Health approach and a coordinated multisectoral surveillance system are essential to rapidly identify and respond to zoonotic disease events within a country. The Surveillance and Information Sharing Operational tool (SIS OT) is a Tripartite (FAO, WHO, WOAH) tool developed under the leadership of FAO to support national authorities to establish or strengthen their coordinated, multisectoral surveillance and information sharing for zoonotic diseases. The SIS OT is based on the principles presented in the Tripartite Zoonosis Guide, in particular on “Surveillance for zoonotic diseases and information sharing”. It includes the guidance document with annexes and the Excel-based tool (SIS OT workbook). It is intended for use by a working group or in a workshop setting, by participants representing the animal health, human health, environmental health and other relevant sectors within a country that have responsibility for zoonotic diseases. It provides guidance and a stepwise method and instrument for assessing the national structures and mechanisms already in place. It links users to a curated set of existing resources developed by the Tripartite and other institutions that can help develop or improve that capacity. Finally, the SIS OT guides development of a roadmap and SIS development plan to use those resources to bridge existing structures and build or strengthen the country’s coordinated surveillance system.

In 2019, the tripartite Organizations, FAO, OIE and WHO developed The Tripartite Zoonosis Guide, which was a summation of a global effort of more than 100 experts worldwide to provide guidance and explain best practices for addressing zoonotic diseases in countries. This includes supporting countries in understanding national contexts and developing capacities for strategic technical areas. Three operational tools have been developed to support national staff in these efforts: (1) the Multisectoral Coordination Mechanism OT (MCM OT), (2) the Joint Risk Assessment OT (JRA OT), and (3) the Surveillance and Information Sharing OT (SIS OT). These tools can be used independently or in coordinated efforts to support national capacity for preparedness and response, ultimately linking to existing international policies and frameworks, and supporting efforts for global health security. Specifically, the JRA OT provides additional support on the area of risk assessment to countries implementing the TZG.

The 2018 FAO-OIE-WHO (Tripartite) zoonoses guide, “Taking A Multisectoral, One Health Approach: A Tripartite Guide to Addressing Zoonotic Diseases in Countries” (2018 TZG) is being jointly developed to provide member countries with practical guidance on OH approaches to build national mechanisms for multisectoral coordination, communication, and collaboration to address zoonotic disease threats at the animal-human-environment interface. The 2018 TZG updates and expands on the guidance in the one previous jointly-developed, zoonoses-specific guidance document: the 2008 Tripartite “Zoonotic Diseases: A Guide to Establishing Collaboration between Animal and Human Health Sectors at the Country Level”, developed in WHO South-East Asia Region and Western Pacific Region. The 2018 TZG supports building by countries of the resilience and capacity to address emerging and endemic zoonotic diseases such as avian influenza, rabies, Ebola, and Rift Valley fever, as well as food-borne diseases and antimicrobial resistance, and to minimize their impacts on health, livelihoods, and economies. It additionally supports country efforts to implement WHO International Health Regulations (2005) and OIE international standards, to address gaps identified through external and internal health system evaluations, and to achieve targets of the Sustainable Development Goals. The 2018 TZG provides relevant country ministries and agencies with lessons learned and good practices identified from country-level experiences in taking OH approaches for preparedness, prevention, detection and response to zoonotic disease threats, and provides guidance on multisectoral communication, coordination, and collaboration. It informs on regional and country-level OH activities and relevant unisectoral and multisectoral tools available for countries to use.

H1N1 ("swine flu"), SARS, mad cow disease, and HIV/AIDS are a few examples of zoonotic diseases-diseases transmitted between humans and animals. Zoonotic diseases are a growing concern given multiple factors: their often novel and unpredictable nature, their ability to emerge anywhere and spread rapidly around the globe, and their major economic toll on several disparate industries. Infectious disease surveillance systems are used to detect this threat to human and animal health. By systematically collecting data on the occurrence of infectious diseases in humans and animals, investigators can track the spread of disease and provide an early warning to human and animal health officials, nationally and internationally, for follow-up and response. Unfortunately, and for many reasons, current disease surveillance has been ineffective or untimely in alerting officials to emerging zoonotic diseases. Sustaining Global Surveillance and Response to Emerging Zoonotic Diseases assesses some of the disease surveillance systems around the world, and recommends ways to improve early detection and response. The book presents solutions for improved coordination between human and animal health sectors, and among governments and international organizations. Parties seeking to improve the detection and response to zoonotic diseases-including U.S. government and international health policy makers, researchers, epidemiologists, human health clinicians, and veterinarians-can use this book to help curtail the threat zoonotic diseases pose to economies, societies, and health.

Following the 27th Tripartite Annual Executive Meeting, the FAO Programme Committee in its 130th session, March 2021, requested the joint development, by the Tripartite (FAO/WHO/WOAH) and others, of a strategy and action plan to prevent future zoonotic pandemics through the One Health approach. The One Health Joint Plan of Action (OH JPA) is intended to guide the four organizations of the Quadripartite to work together on One Health with the aim of supporting their Members to build One Health capacities. It provides a framework for action and proposes a set of activities that the four organizations can offer together to enable countries to advance and scale up One Health in managing human, animal, plant and environment health threats. The framework uses a One Health approach to strengthen collaboration, communication, advocacy, and coordination equally across all sectors responsible for addressing health concerns at the human-animal-plant-environment interface.

Zoonotic diseases are transmitted between animals and people and impact health, livelihood and national and global health security. A multisectoral, One Health approach is necessary to address such complex heath threats at the human-animal-environment interface. Establishment of a multisectoral, One Health coordination mechanism allows countries to coordinate addressing zoonotic diseases and other shared health concerns at the human-animal-environment interface, including both leadership and technical functions, to strengthen and develop collaboration, communication, and coordination across the sectors and achieve better health outcomes. The Multisectoral Coordination Mechanism Operational Tool (MCM OT) provides a standard stepwise approach for countries to establish or strengthen a mechanism for multisectoral, One Health coordination to manage zoonotic diseases, with references to principles and best practices described in the Tripartite Zoonosis Guide.

Achieving the SDG targets requires the coordination of multiple government sectors. This paper is aimed at national and international actors who seek to work across sectors to achieve common development goals. Building on the available literature and on regional country studies, it emphasizes the role of multistakeholder collaboration at local and national levels.