WOAH calls for better VBD preparedness
Climate change could be creating favourable conditions for VBDs.
The World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) has urged its members to be prepared for vector-borne diseases (VBDs) as disease events rise.
It has called on its members to strengthen their integrated surveillance and early warning systems, and to be prepared to properly report vector-borne disease events through the World Animal Health Information System (WAHIS).
A VBD is a disease which can be transmitted from one animal or person to another through a living organism. The vector will most often be an insect, such as a mosquito, which can carry and transmit pathogens.
Official reports from WAHIS have shown a steady increase in the incidence of some of these VBDs and the overall number of countries reporting these diseases.
The increase, which has been ongoing since 2023, is concentrated on a small number of diseases in a small number of countries.
Of these diseases, bluetongue has accounted for one of the largest amounts of the increase. On average, there has been 38 exceptional epidemiological events per year recorded in 2023-2025, compared with an average of 9.1 events per year between 2015 and 2022.
This has mainly been driven by the incursion of the BTV-3 serotype in north-western Europe in 2023.
Meanwhile West Nile fever, which can cause encephalitis in humans, has increased substantially from 8.0 events per year in average to 55 per year.
Since 2005, bluetongue has accounted for the majority of all VBD outbreaks reported to WOAH. From 2022 onwards, Europe has reported the overwhelming majority of bluetongue outbreaks, while Africa has remained the main region affected by Rift Valley fever. The Americas accounted for the majority of equine infectious anaemia and western equine encephalitis cases.
WOAH has suggested that climate change could be driving the increased in VBD occurrences. It says that these changes, such as rising temperatures and changing rainfall patterns, could create conditions favourable to VBD transmission in previously unaffected areas.
As well as improving integrated surveillance and reporting, WOAH is also calling on its members to adopt control measures which are based on science and risk. It recommends better investment in entomological, laboratory and diagnostic capacity, within national Veterinary Services and in collaboration with WOAH Reference Centres.
Similarly, it says that stronger cross-sectoral and cross-border collaboration, through regional networks and initiatives such as PROVNA, will mean scientists can anticipate and respond to vectors across national boundaries.
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