CHOICES
A publication of AAEA
Animal health surveillance is an essential pillar of livestock and wildlife management, influencing food security, global trade, and the livelihoods of rural communities around the world. Recent disease incursions such as foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), African swine fever (ASF), and emerging zoonoses demonstrate the economic and public health consequences of inadequate prevention, detection, and response. This Choices special issue brings together five articles that highlight successes, obstacles, and innovations in the animal health systems of the United States, Australia, Brazil, and Ethiopia, with an added focus on the unique challenges posed by wildlife disease surveillance.
Recent international experiences highlight that comprehensive strategies (spanning federal, state, local, and private actors) remain critical for preventing and mitigating highly contagious diseases. Trade policies and consumer demand can shift rapidly in response to new or reemerging diseases, with devastating consequences for producers in low- and high-income economies. Furthermore, the reliance on surveillance systems for “proof of disease freedom” (or minimal disease risk) remains a defining factor in bilateral and multilateral market access. From the U.S. evolution of disease monitoring after outbreaks of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and HPAI to Australia’s emphasis on cost-sharing arrangements for emergency response and private-public partnerships in Brazil and fledgling systems in Ethiopia, policymakers worldwide face similar pressures to innovate within funding constraints.
The articles in this special issue collectively illustrate that animal health and disease surveillance extend far beyond technical processes, reaching into the core of trade integration, household food security, and rural development. In the United States, Hagerman and co-authors describe how past experiences with FMD and HPAI have driven policy evolution at federal and statelevels, highlighting how both commercial and smallholder operations respond differently to outbreaks and trade constraints. Seitzinger and Hester then illustrate Australia’s public-private cost-sharing model, which enhances accountability and incentivizes preventive measures, including promising new diagnostic technologies the move beyond reactive outbreak response. Menezes and Miranda explore how Brazil’s robust meat export market emerged through decades of eradication campaigns, notably for FMD, transitioning toward broader agricultural development policies while also highlighting the funding and coordination challenges that persist. Shakil and co-authors examine Ethiopia’s limited-resource context, emphasizing how deficient public expenditures relative to livestock’s economic importance reduce disease control capacity and slow agricultural development, especially for small-scale producers. Finally, Shwiff and co-authors remind us that wildlife disease surveillance is equally crucial, as invasive wild pigs in the United States can harbor pathogens like pseudorabies and classical swine fever, demanding coordinated management to prevent spillover into domestic herds.
This special issue shows that nations at different stages of economic development face similarly complex threats in both livestock and wildlife, underscoring the global interconnectedness of animal health. Whether eradicating an endemic disease, building robust surveillance systems, or guarding against future outbreaks, animal health efforts must increasingly consider the wildlife-livestock interface and sustain momentum beyond immediate crisis responses. An outbreak in one country can reverberate across continents, requiring coordinated strategies, funding models, and continuous innovations in surveillance to effectively safeguard the herd. Each of the five articles offers important lessons for economists, veterinarians, policymakers, and industry stakeholders, demonstrating how disease control strategies require balancing enforcement, financial incentives, and collaborative governance and ultimately fostering a transition from narrow eradication campaigns to sustainable, long-term animal health and agricultural development.
