Corrigendum: Examination of critical factors influencing ruminant disease dynamics in the Black Sea Basin.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2023.1174560.].

Examination of critical factors influencing ruminant disease dynamics in the Black Sea Basin.

Introduction: Ruminant production in the Black Sea basin (BSB) is critical for national economies and the subsistence of rural populations. Yet, zoonoses and transboundary animal diseases (TADs) are limiting and threatening the sector. To gain a more comprehensive understanding, this study characterizes key aspects of the ruminant sector in nine countries of the BSB, including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Georgia, Moldova, Romania, Türkiye, and Ukraine. Methods: We selected six priority ruminant diseases (anthrax, brucellosis, Crimean Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF), foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), lumpy skin disease (LSD), and peste des petits ruminants (PPR)) that are present or threaten to emerge in the region. Standardized questionnaires were completed by a network of focal points and supplemented with external sources. We examined country and ruminant-specific data such as demographics, economic importance, and value chains in each country. For disease-specific data, we analysed the sanitary status, management strategies, and temporal trends of the selected diseases. Results and discussion: The shift from a centrally planned to a market economy, following the collapse of the Soviet Union, restructured the ruminant sector. This sector played a critical role in rural livelihoods within the BSB. Yet, it faced significant challenges such as the low sustainability of pastoralism, technological limitations, and unregistered farms. Additionally, ruminant health was hindered by informal animal trade as a result of economic factors, insufficient support for the development of formal trade, and socio-cultural drivers. In the Caucasus and Türkiye, where diseases were present, improvements to ruminant health were driven by access to trading opportunities. Conversely, European countries, mostly disease-free, prioritized preventing disease incursion to avoid a high economic burden. While international initiatives for disease management are underway in the BSB, there is still a need for more effective local resource allocation and international partnerships to strengthen veterinary health capacity, protect animal health and improve ruminant production.

Development of core competencies for field veterinary epidemiology training programs.

A workforce with the adequate field epidemiology knowledge, skills and abilities is the foundation of a strong and effective animal health system. Field epidemiology training is conducted in several countries to meet the increased global demand for such a workforce. However, core competencies for field veterinary epidemiology have not been identified and agreed upon globally, leading to the development of different training curricula. Having a set of agreed core competencies can harmonize field veterinary epidemiology training. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) initiated a collective, iterative, and participative process to achieve this and organized two expert consultative workshops in 2018 to develop core competencies for field veterinary epidemiology at the frontline and intermediate levels. Based on these expert discussions, 13 competencies were identified for the frontline and intermediate levels. These competencies were organized into three domains: epidemiological surveillance and studies; field investigation, preparedness and response; and One Health, communication, ethics and professionalism. These competencies can be used to facilitate the development of field epidemiology training curricula for veterinarians, adapted to country training needs, or customized for training other close disciplines. The competencies can also be useful for mentors and employers to monitor and evaluate the progress of their mentees, or to guide the selection process during the recruitment of new staff.

Composting of Wild Boar Carcasses in Lithuania Leads to Inactivation of African Swine Fever Virus in Wintertime.

African swine fever (ASF) continues to spread and persist in the Eurasian wild boar population. The infection pressure resulting from infected carcasses in the environment can be a major contributor to disease persistence and spread. For this reason, it is crucial to find a safe and efficient method of carcass disposal under different circumstances. In the presented study, we investigated open-air composting of carcasses under winter conditions in northeastern Europe, i.e., Lithuania. We can demonstrate that the ASF virus (ASFV) is inactivated in both entire wild boar carcasses and pieces thereof in a time- and temperature-dependent manner. Composting piles reached up to 59.0 °C, and ASFV was shown to be inactivated. However, the ASFV genome was still present until the end of the 112-day sampling period. While further studies are needed to explore potential risk factors (and their mitigation), such as destruction of composting piles by scavengers or harsh weather conditions, composting seems to present a valid method to inactivate the ASFV in wild boar carcasses where rendering or other disposal methods are not feasible. In summary, composting provides a new tool in our toolbox of ASF control in wild boar and can be considered for carcass disposal.

A Novel Tool to Assess the Risk for African Swine Fever in Hunting Environments: The Balkan Experience.

In Europe, African swine fever (ASF) can be sustained within wild boar populations, thus representing a constant source of virus and a huge challenge in the management of the disease. Hunters are the key stakeholders for the prevention, detection and control of ASF in wild boar. Their behavior and the biosecurity standards applied in infected or at-risk hunting grounds have a huge impact on disease dynamics and management. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has developed a semi-quantitative survey-based novel tool to assess the risk of ASF in hunting grounds (namely the risks of introduction and spread into and between hunting grounds, and the risk of not detecting the infection) and how such risks could be reduced if mitigation or corrective measures were applied at low, medium and high effort. The weight of risk factors was determined through an expert knowledge elicitation (EKE). The surveys for each hunting ground were filled in by their respective managers. The tool's outputs allow users to visualize the different ASF risks of hunting grounds, whether as numerical values or color-coded maps, at sub-national, national and regional levels. These outputs can be used to guide policy makers, highlighting gaps or geographical areas to prioritize. The tool was used to assess hunting grounds in Kosovo1 (1 As per United Nations Security Council resolution 1244). Montenegro and Serbia, showing overall a high risk.

Peste des Petits Ruminants in Central and Eastern Asia/West Eurasia: Epidemiological Situation and Status of Control and Eradication Activities after the First Phase of the PPR Global Eradication Programme (2017-2021).

Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) is a highly contagious infectious disease of small ruminants caused by peste des petits ruminants virus (PPRV). PPR poses a significant threat to sheep and goat systems in over 65 endemic countries across Africa, the Middle East and Asia. It is also responsible for devastating outbreaks in susceptible wildlife, threatening biodiversity. For these reasons, PPR is the target of the Global Eradication Programme (PPR GEP), launched in 2016, which is aimed at eradicating the disease by 2030. The end of the first five-year phase of the PPR GEP (2017-2021) provides an ideal opportunity to assess the status of the stepwise control and eradication process. This review analyses 13 countries belonging to Eastern Europe, Transcaucasia, and Central and East Asia. Substantial heterogeneity is apparent in terms of PPR presence and control strategies implemented by different countries. Within this region, one country is officially recognised as PPR-free, seven countries have never reported PPR, and two have had no outbreaks in the last five years. Therefore, there is real potential for countries in this region to move forward in a coordinated manner to secure official PPR freedom status and thus reap the trade and socioeconomic benefits of PPR eradication.

Network analysis of live pig movements in North Macedonia: Pathways for disease spread.

Globalization of trade, and the interconnectivity of animal production systems, continues to challenge efforts to control disease. A better understanding of trade networks supports development of more effective strategies for mitigation for transboundary diseases like African swine fever (ASF), classical swine fever (CSF), and foot-and-mouth disease (FMD). North Macedonia, bordered to the north and east by countries with ongoing ASF outbreaks, recently reported its first incursion of ASF. This study aimed to describe the distribution of pigs and pig farms in North Macedonia, and to characterize the live pig movement network. Network analyses on movement data from 2017 to 2019 were performed for each year separately, and consistently described weakly connected components with a few primary hubs that most nodes shipped to. In 2019, the network demonstrated a marked decrease in betweenness and increase in communities. Most shipments occurred within 50 km, with movements <6 km being the most common (22.5%). Nodes with the highest indegree and outdegree were consistent across years, despite a large turnover among smallholder farms. Movements to slaughterhouses predominated (85.6%), with movements between farms (5.4%) and movements to market (5.8%) playing a lesser role. This description of North Macedonia's live pig movement network should enable implementation of more efficient and cost-effective mitigation efforts strategies in country, and inform targeted educational outreach, and provide data for future disease modeling, in the region.

Evaluation of the economic impact of classical and African swine fever epidemics using OutCosT, a new spreadsheet-based tool.

African swine fever (ASF) and classical swine fever (CSF) are two major transboundary animal diseases of swine with important socioeconomic consequences at farm, subnational and national level. The objective of this study was to evaluate the direct cost of outbreaks and their control at country/regional level in four countries: namely CSF in Colombia in 2015-2016, the retrospective cost of ASF in the Philippines in 2019 and in a province of Vietnam in 2020 and a hypothetical ASF scenario in one region in North Macedonia, using the newly developed Outbreak Costing Tool (OutCosT). The tool calculates the costs of 106 different items, broken down by up to four types of farms, and by who assumes the cost (whether veterinary services, farmers or other stakeholders). The total cost of CSF in Colombia was US$ 3.8 million, of which 88% represented the cost of the vaccination campaign. For ASF, there were wide differences between countries: US$ 8,26,911 in Lao Cai (Vietnam), US$ 33,19,666 in North Macedonia and over US$ 58 million in the Philippines. While in the Philippines and Vietnam, 96-98% of the cost occurred in the affected farms, the highest expenditure in North Macedonia scenario was the movement control of the neighbouring and at-risk farms (77%). These important differences between countries depend on the spread of the disease, but also on the production systems affected and the measures applied. Apart from the financial cost, these diseases have other negative impacts, especially in the livelihoods of smallholder farms. The OutCosT tool also allows users to evaluate qualitatively other important aspects related to the epidemics, such as the impact on human health, the environment, animal welfare, socioeconomic vulnerability, trading and political response. OutCosT, which is a FAO corporate tool (available online at: https://www.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/faoweb/animal-health/OutCosT_PIG.xlsx), can be an important tool to support country authorities to rapidly respond to a swine disease outbreak by estimating the associated costs and for advocacy purposes to mobilize resources at national or international levels.

Targeting the search of African swine fever-infected wild boar carcasses: A tool for early detection.

This study analyses the temporal and spatial distribution of found dead African swine fever (ASF)-positive wild boar carcasses from 2017 to January 2021 in affected European countries: Bulgaria, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Poland, Serbia and Slovakia. During this period, a total of 21,785 cases were confirmed in 19,071 unique locations. The temporal analysis of aggregated cases per month evidenced that most countries located in southern latitudes showed a higher number of cases between January and April, whereas in northern latitudes there was no clear temporal pattern. The space-time K-function evidenced a space-time clustering in the ASF-positive wild boar carcasses, which was most prominent within distances of 2 km and within 1 week. A Bayesian hierarchical spatial model was calibrated to evaluate the association between the probability of finding ASF-positive wild boar carcasses and landscape factors (i.e. the presence of a path and paved road), land use and wild boar abundance. Results showed the highest likelihood of finding ASF-positive wild boar carcasses in areas of transition between woodland and shrub, green urban areas and mixed forests. The presence of a path and a higher abundance of wild boar also increased slightly the odds of finding an ASF-positive dead wild boar. In summary, this paper aims to provide recommendations to design a search strategy to find ASF-infected wild boar carcasses, which is a crucial activity in the management of the disease, not just for surveillance purposes (i.e. the early detection of an introduction and the regular monitoring to understand the epidemiology and dynamics), but also for control, namely the disposal of infected carcasses as a virus source.

Descriptive and Multivariate Analysis of the Pig Sector in North Macedonia and Its Implications for African Swine Fever Transmission.

North Macedonia, a country in the Balkan region of Europe, is currently bordered to the north and east by countries with active African swine fever (ASF) outbreaks. The predominantly traditional backyard pig farming sector in this country is under imminent threat of disease incursion. The characteristics and practices of such sectors have rarely been described, and thus the implications for these factors on disease introduction and spread are poorly understood. Using a semi-structured questionnaire, 457 pig producers were interviewed, providing information on 77.7% of the pig population in North Macedonia. In addition, a pilot study of 25 pig producers in Kosovo was performed. This study aimed to provide a detailed description of the North Macedonian pig sector, to make comparisons with nearby Kosovo, and to identify areas with high-risk practices for targeted mitigation. Descriptive data were summarized. Results of the questionnaire were used to identify farm-level risk factors for disease introduction. These factors were used in the calculation of a biosecurity risk score. Kernel density estimation methods were used to generate density maps highlighting areas where the risk of disease introduction was particularly concentrated. Multiple correspondence analysis with hierarchical clustering on principal components was used to explore patterns in farm practices. Results show that farms were predominantly small-scale with high rates of turnover. Pig movement was predominantly local. The highest biosecurity risk scores were localized in the eastern regions of North Macedonia, concerningly the same regions with the highest frequency of wild boar sightings. Veterinarians were highly regarded, regularly utilized, and trusted sources of information. Practices that should be targeted for improvement include isolation of new pigs, and consistent application of basic sanitary practices including washing hands, use of disinfection mats, and separation of clean and dirty areas. This study provides the most complete description of the North Macedonian pig sector currently available. It also identifies regions and practices that could be targeted to mitigate the risk of disease incursion and spread. These results represent the first steps to quantify biosecurity gaps and high-risk behaviors in North Macedonia, providing baseline information to design risk-based, more cost-effective, prevention, surveillance, and control strategies.

Review: Vaccines and Vaccination against Lumpy Skin Disease.

The geographical distribution of lumpy skin disease (LSD), an economically important cattle disease caused by a capripoxvirus, has reached an unprecedented extent. Vaccination is the only way to prevent the spread of the infection in endemic and newly affected regions. Yet, in the event of an outbreak, selection of the best vaccine is a major challenge for veterinary authorities and farmers. Decision makers need sound scientific information to support their decisions and subsequent actions. The available vaccine products vary in terms of quality, efficacy, safety, side effects, and price. The pros and cons of different types of live attenuated and inactivated vaccines, vaccination strategies, and associated risks are discussed. Seroconversion, which typically follows vaccination, places specific demands on the tools and methods used to evaluate the effectiveness of the LSD vaccination campaigns in the field. We aimed to give a comprehensive update on available vaccines and vaccination against LSD, to better prepare affected and at-risk countries to control LSD and ensure the safe trade of cattle.

Transboundary spread of pig diseases: the role of international trade and travel.

As globalization increases the interconnectedness between nations, economies, and industries, the introduction of diseases will continue to remain a prominent threat to the livestock sector and the trade of animals and animal products, as well as the livelihoods of farmers, food security and public health. The global pig sector, with its size and dichotomy between production type and biosecurity level, is particularly vulnerable to the transmission of transboundary animal diseases such as African and classical swine fever, foot and mouth disease, or porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome. All of the above pose a constant threat to swine health, mainly as a result of both formal and informal international trade.Inspired in the risk assessment methodology, this paper classifies and provides an overview of the different pig disease introduction and exposure pathways, illustrated with abundant examples. Introduction pathways are classified as formal international trade (by product), informal international trade (by product), and spread through fomites. Formal trade of pigs and pork products is regulated by legislation and measures protecting animal populations from exotic diseases. Much more difficult to control is the transboundary swine disease transmission originating through informal trade, which entails illegal smuggling, but also the informal cross-border transfer of animals and products for personal use or within informal market chains. Meat products are most commonly mentioned, although fomites have also played a role in some cases, with live pigs, being more difficult to smuggle playing a role less frequently. The main exposure pathways are also described with the oral route playing a prominent role.Risk assessments can aid in the identification of pathways of pathogen introduction and exposure. However, quantitative information on informal disease introduction pathways remains very scarce and often incomplete, making it difficult to estimate the actual magnitudes of risks. Nevertheless, this knowledge is deemed essential to set up risk based awareness, prevention and surveillance programs that correspond to reality.

Epidemiology of African swine fever in Africa today: Sylvatic cycle versus socio-economic imperatives.

African swine fever (ASF) is believed to have evolved in eastern and southern Africa in a sylvatic cycle between common warthogs (Phacochoerus africanus) and argasid ticks of the Ornithodoros moubata complex that live in their burrows. The involvement of warthogs and possibly other wild suids in the maintenance of ASF virus means that the infection cannot be eradicated from Africa, but only prevented and controlled in domestic pig populations. Historically, outbreaks of ASF in domestic pigs in Africa were almost invariably linked to the presence of warthogs, but subsequent investigations of the disease in pigs revealed the presence of another cycle involving domestic pigs and ticks, with a third cycle becoming apparent when the disease expanded into West Africa where the sylvatic cycle is not present. The increase in ASF outbreaks that has accompanied the exponential growth of the African pig population over the last three decades has heralded a shift in the epidemiology of ASF in Africa, and the growing importance of the pig husbandry and trade in the maintenance and spread of ASF. This review, which focuses on the ASF situation between 1989 and 2017, suggests a minor role for wild suids compared with the domestic cycle, driven by socio-economic factors that determine the ability of producers to implement the control measures needed for better management of ASF in Africa.

Spatial analysis of lumpy skin disease in Eurasia-Predicting areas at risk for further spread within the region.

Data from affected lumpy skin disease (LSD) locations between July 2012 and September 2018 in the Balkans, Caucasus, and Middle East were retrieved from FAO's Global Animal Disease Information System (EMPRES-i) from the European Commission's Animal Disease Notification System (ADNS) and completed with data from the official veterinary services of some countries. During this period, a total of 7,593 locations from 22 countries were affected. Within this period, over 46,000 cattle were clinically affected by LSD, 3,700 animals died and 17,500 were slaughtered due to culling policies to stop the spread of the disease. Most outbreaks occurred in 2016, between the months of May and November. The affected region was divided into a grid of 10 × 10 km cells and we fit a spatial regression model to analyse the association between the reported LSD outbreaks and climatic variables, land cover, and cattle density. The results showed big differences in the odds of being LSD positive due to the type of land cover: the odds of a cell being LSD positive was increased in areas mostly covered with croplands, grassland, or shrubland. The odds was also increased for higher cattle density, as well as areas with higher annual mean temperature and higher temperature diurnal range. The resulting model was utilized to predict the LSD risk in neighbouring unaffected areas in Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia, identifying several areas with high risk of spread. Results from this study provide useful information for the design of surveillance and awareness systems, and preventive measures, e.g., vaccination programmes.

Descriptive and multivariate analysis of the pig sector in Georgia and its implications for disease transmission.

BACKGROUND: Georgia is a country in the Caucasus region with a traditional backyard and highly variable pig farming system. The practices of such sectors have seldom been described and analyzed to better understand their implication in the introduction and spread of infectious pig diseases. Moreover, the Georgian pig sector was badly hit by an epidemic of African swine fever in 2007 that quickly spread throughout the region. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We interviewed 487 pig farmers and 116 butchers using closed questionnaires on socioeconomic issues related to pig production, husbandry practices, biosecurity, marketing and movements, and disease awareness. Surveys were conducted in four regions of Georgia and descriptive statistics were computed. Factorial analyses of mixed data and hierarchical clustering on principal components were applied to study the relationship among collected variables for both farmers and butchers. RESULTS: Results show that pig farming in Georgia is a non-professional sector, highly heterogeneous by region, characterized by smallholdings of few animals, with low inputs, outdated technologies, and poor biosecurity, which all translates into low outputs and productivity. The hierarchical clustering on principal components confirmed that there are five major production and husbandry strategies, which match the four regions where the study was conducted. CONCLUSIONS: Our results are the first step to quantify biosecurity gaps and risky behaviours, develop risk profiles, and identify critical control points across the market chain where to implement mitigation measures. This study provides the baseline information needed to design realistic and sustainable prevention, surveillance and control strategies.

Economic cost of lumpy skin disease outbreaks in three Balkan countries: Albania, Bulgaria and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (2016-2017).

Lumpy skin disease (LSD) is an emerging viral disease that was detected for the first time in the Balkan Peninsula in Greece in 2015. In April 2016, there was a reoccurrence in Greece and the spread of the disease for the first time into Bulgaria, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia, Kosovo, Albania and Montenegro. The veterinary services of the countries responded with different strategies to control the disease, mostly based on mass vaccination campaigns and diverse stamping out approaches. During 2017, the epidemic was mostly controlled except for outbreaks reported in Albania, Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. The study aims to quantify the cost of disease and control measures in three selected Balkan countries, that is, Albania, Bulgaria and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, which were differently affected by the disease, had different animal production structures and implemented different control strategies. The total cost for the three countries was 20.9 million Euro (EUR 20.9 m), mostly incurred in 2016 (EUR 16.6 m), when the disease was spreading throughout the Balkan region. In 2017 (data until October), the cost was EUR 4.0 m, mainly due to vaccination costs. Bulgaria was the country with the highest total cost at EUR 8.6 m, followed by the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (EUR 6.7 m) and Albania (EUR 5.3 m). According to our data, the average cost per affected herd in 2016 was EUR 869, EUR 6,994 and EUR 3,071 in Albania, Bulgaria and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, respectively. The cost per animal in the affected herds was EUR 539, 147 and 258, respectively. The results from this study are useful to understand the cost of LSD outbreaks in the region, which might contribute to improve the surveillance and control of the disease.

Wild boar mapping using population-density statistics: From polygons to high resolution raster maps.

The wild boar is an important crop raider as well as a reservoir and agent of spread of swine diseases. Due to increasing densities and expanding ranges worldwide, the related economic losses in livestock and agricultural sectors are significant and on the rise. Its management and control would strongly benefit from accurate and detailed spatial information on species distribution and abundance, which are often available only for small areas. Data are commonly available at aggregated administrative units with little or no information about the distribution of the species within the unit. In this paper, a four-step geostatistical downscaling approach is presented and used to disaggregate wild boar population density statistics from administrative units of different shape and size (polygons) to 5 km resolution raster maps by incorporating auxiliary fine scale environmental variables. 1) First a stratification method was used to define homogeneous bioclimatic regions for the analysis; 2) Under a geostatistical framework, the wild boar densities at administrative units, i.e. subnational areas, were decomposed into trend and residual components for each bioclimatic region. Quantitative relationships between wild boar data and environmental variables were estimated through multiple regression and used to derive trend components at 5 km spatial resolution. Next, the residual components (i.e., the differences between the trend components and the original wild boar data at administrative units) were downscaled at 5 km resolution using area-to-point kriging. The trend and residual components obtained at 5 km resolution were finally added to generate fine scale wild boar estimates for each bioclimatic region. 3) These maps were then mosaicked to produce a final output map of predicted wild boar densities across most of Eurasia. 4) Model accuracy was assessed at each different step using input as well as independent data. We discuss advantages and limits of the method and its potential application in animal health.

Modeling the live-pig trade network in Georgia: Implications for disease prevention and control.

Live pig trade patterns, drivers and characteristics, particularly in backyard predominant systems, remain largely unexplored despite their important contribution to the spread of infectious diseases in the swine industry. A better understanding of the pig trade dynamics can inform the implementation of risk-based and more cost-effective prevention and control programs for swine diseases. In this study, a semi-structured questionnaire elaborated by FAO and implemented to 487 farmers was used to collect data regarding basic characteristics about pig demographics and live-pig trade among villages in the country of Georgia, where very scarce information is available. Social network analysis and exponential random graph models were used to better understand the structure, contact patterns and main drivers for pig trade in the country. Results indicate relatively infrequent (a total of 599 shipments in one year) and geographically localized (median Euclidean distance between shipments = 6.08 km; IQR = 0-13.88 km) pig movements in the studied regions. The main factors contributing to live-pig trade movements among villages were being from the same region (i.e., local trade), usage of a middleman or a live animal market to trade live pigs by at least one farmer in the village, and having a large number of pig farmers in the village. The identified villages' characteristics and structural network properties could be used to inform the design of more cost-effective surveillance systems in a country which pig industry was recently devastated by African swine fever epidemics and where backyard production systems are predominant.

Review of Participatory Epidemiology Practices in Animal Health (1980-2015) and Future Practice Directions.

In this study we combined an inventory of the major applications, geographic regions and diseases covered by participatory epidemiology (PE) activities in the field of animal health since 1980, together with an email discussion forum with PE practitioners from different regions of the world. The inventory included the search of peer-reviewed papers, master and technical reports, conference proceedings, manuals, training materials and projects. The search resulted in a low number of PE activity results until the year 2000, followed by a considerable increase (especially from 2012). Most of the identified activities were implemented in Africa and Asia, and focused on surveillance, disease survey and prioritization, and disease control. Seventy-nine PE practitioners working predominantly in Africa, Asia and Europe (29, 22 and 18 respectively) contributed to the email discussion forum. They proposed various modifications to the existing PE definition and discussed different issues related to the applicatoin of PE, its institutionalization for use in policy development, as well as the priorities for future development. The need to increase the number of PE trained people together with some methodological developments and the application of this methodology in developed countries, were some of the points highlighted during the forum. These factors stress the importance of further developing PE as a useful approach for engaging communities in addressing animal and related public health risks.

Global trends in infectious diseases at the wildlife-livestock interface.

The role and significance of wildlife-livestock interfaces in disease ecology has largely been neglected, despite recent interest in animals as origins of emerging diseases in humans. Scoping review methods were applied to objectively assess the relative interest by the scientific community in infectious diseases at interfaces between wildlife and livestock, to characterize animal species and regions involved, as well as to identify trends over time. An extensive literature search combining wildlife, livestock, disease, and geographical search terms yielded 78,861 publications, of which 15,998 were included in the analysis. Publications dated from 1912 to 2013 and showed a continuous increasing trend, including a shift from parasitic to viral diseases over time. In particular there was a significant increase in publications on the artiodactyls-cattle and bird-poultry interface after 2002 and 2003, respectively. These trends could be traced to key disease events that stimulated public interest and research funding. Among the top 10 diseases identified by this review, the majority were zoonoses. Prominent wildlife-livestock interfaces resulted largely from interaction between phylogenetically closely related and/or sympatric species. The bird-poultry interface was the most frequently cited wildlife-livestock interface worldwide with other interfaces reflecting regional circumstances. This review provides the most comprehensive overview of research on infectious diseases at the wildlife-livestock interface to date.