Zoonotic diseases: a guide to establishing collaboration between animal and human health sectors at the country level

Overview

This guide was developed to assist countries and areas in achieving sustainable and functional collaboration between animal and human health sectors, which is crucial to addressing the challenges posed by endemic, emerging and re-emerging zoonoses. It outlines step-by-step actions to develop appropriate collaborations in the following four key areas identified in the Asia Pacific Strategy for Emerging Diseases (APSED) zoonoses work plan:

• surveillance and information sharing
• coordinated response
• risk reduction
• collaborative research.

Once strong collaboration has been established in these areas, it may also be applied to specific zoonoses control programmes.