Scientists speak out about tackling disease

Researchers from the University of Glasgow are calling for a more coordinated approach to surveillance of zoonoses, if emerging zoonotic diseases are to be tackled.

Around 75 per cent of recently emerging diseases can be transmitted between animals and humans and most are first observed causing disease in animals, for example Ebola Virus in great apes, West Nile Virus in crows and Rift Valley Fever in livestock.

Now, scientists are encouraging a shift in focus of surveillance for zoonoses to build systems that tackle both emerging global threats and endemic zoonoses in developing countries. It is hoped this will not only overcome barriers to the reporting of emerging diseases but also ease the impact of endemic diseases.

Lead researcher Dr Jo Halliday from the Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, said: “Early detection of disease outbreaks in human and animal populations is crucial to the effective surveillance of emerging diseases.  At the moment though, there are several barriers to disease reporting and surveillance that limit the effectiveness of disease surveillance and control efforts and the impacts of these barriers are most severe in the developing world.”
 
Dr Halliday said: “Because of the potential for rapid international spread of infectious diseases, this reduced capacity for early detection of disease outbreaks in many developing regions has implications for the global community as a whole.”

In a paper published in Philosophical Transactions B of The Royal Society, the researchers are proposing the development of 'linked strategies' that tackle the important public health problems posed by endemic zoonoses in developing countries as well as building capacity that can help detect and control future disease threats simultaneously.