GLEWS

The GLEWS initiative started with the voluntary participation of representatives of FAO, OIE and WHO, who share the common objective to enhance the Early Warning and Response capacity for the benefit of the international community. Mutual benefit through collaboration has been identified throughout the Early Warning and Response process.

The three organizations use complementary and partly overlapping sources of information to identify infectious disease events. Through sharing of information on disease alerts, the capacity for early warning of the three organizations could be enhanced while avoiding unjustified duplication of efforts. In some instances the geographical coverage of disease alerts could be improved, e.g. through the use of FAO/AGAH animal health information for non OIE countries.

For zoonotic events, alerts of animal outbreaks provide direct early warning so that human surveillance could be enhanced and preventive action taken. Similarly, there may be cases where human surveillance is more sensitive and alerts of human cases precede known animal occurrence of disease.

There is also added value in combining and coordinating the verification processes. One source of information is often not sufficient to verify or deny the presence of a disease in a country that did not spontaneously report it. A rumour might be denied by an official institution, although the epidemiological context tends to demonstrate the contrary. Each disease event tracked has therefore to be verified in light of the current and most updated epidemiological knowledge. Socioeconomics and demographic data on livestock also represent a valuable source of information in this exercise.

Joint dissemination of risk assessment would also benefit from the different information sources providing a comprehensive analysis of the event and its possible consequences in its specific context.

Sharing assessments of ongoing outbreak undertaken by either of the organizations, e.g. based on reports from local representation or field missions, would be of value to all three organizations. Furthermore, the organizations would, in accordance with their different mandates, bring together different pieces of information from different sources that would enable a joint assessment of the outbreak. Immediate notifications to the OIE would provide initial details of the outbreak and any immediate control measures taken. FAO would bring the integration of other data and information, e.g. on animal production systems, factors affecting movements of livestock etc, crucial for the assessment of the risk of further spread.

Joint analysis and assessment by the three organizations would also benefit from the different specific competencies and resources of the three different organizations and may form the basis for a joint infection control strategy. Joint dissemination would enable harmonized communications by the three organizations regarding disease control strategies.

The existing response systems of FAO and OIE enable the provision of assistance to countries facing national or regional animal disease threats. WHO and the Global Outbreak Alert Response Network (GOARN) on the other hand ensures quick and appropriate technical support to populations affected by human disease epidemics on a national, regional or even international level. For the control of animal disease epidemics with a complex epidemiological appearance, the potential for regional or international spread and/or a public health dimension, no global response network has yet been established. There is a clear need to fill this gap by building a response network ideally complementary to GOARN when relevant, so both can share their expertise in responding to disease emergencies A system for joint response to disease emergencies would improve international preparedness for epidemics and provide timely and coordinated assistance to countries experiencing them.

Jointly, the three organizations would be able to cover a wider range of outbreaks or exceptional epidemiological events with the provision of a wider range of expertise.