Outbreaks of avian influenza H5N1 (“bird flu”), severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), and pandemic H1N1 2009 (so called “swine flu”) over the past decade demonstrate how zoonotic diseases—which are caused by bacteria, viruses, parasites, or unconventional agents and are transmissible between humans and animals—can threaten both health and economies around the world.

Zoonotic pathogens have caused more than 65 percent of emerging infectious disease events since 1950, and because the diseases often are new, societies are unprepared to treat them. Moreover, the severity of illness in different species is unpredictable and widely variable. Unfortunately, for several reasons, disease surveillance in the United States and abroad is not very effective in alerting officials to emerging zoonotic diseases.

In response to this challenge, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) approached the Institute of Medicine (IOM) and the National Research Council (NRC) for advice on how to improve and sustain global capacity for surveillance and response to emerging zoonotic diseases. The IOM and NRC’s 2009 report Sustaining Global Surveillance and Response to Emerging Zoonotic Diseases calls for the United States to take the lead, working with global health organizations to establish a global surveillance system that better integrates the human and animal health sectors, resulting in improved early detection and response.