BANR Reports

Sustaining Global Surveillance and Response to Emerging Zoonotic Diseases (2009) Press Release Report in Brief Recent outbreaks of pandemic H1N1 (so-called "swine flu"), avian influenza H5N1 ("bird flu"), and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), and are examples of how zoonotic diseases -- those transmissible between humans and animals -- can threaten health and economies around the world. Zoonotic diseases have caused more than 65 percent of emerging infectious disease events in the past six decades, and increasing global interconnectedness means that humans, animals, and animal products can circumnavigate the globe in hours, making virtually all locations vulnerable to the diseases they may carry. This report from the Institute of Medicine and National Research Council assesses global disease surveillance capacity and makes recommendations for improving that capacity for early detection and response to zoonotic diseases outbreaks. More...