Zoonotic diseases: Federal actions needed to improve surveillance and better assess human health risks posed by wildlife : report to congressional committees
- Collection:
- Health Policy and Services Research
- Alternate Title(s):
- Federal actions needed to improve surveillance and better assess human health risks posed by wildlife: report to congressional com
- Contributor(s):
- United States. Government Accountability Office, issuing body.
- Publication:
- Washington, DC : United States Government Accountability Office, May 2023
- Language(s):
- English
- Format:
- Text
- Subject(s):
- Government Regulation Legislation, Medical Sentinel Surveillance Wildlife Trade -- legislation & jurisprudence Zoonoses -- prevention & control United States
- Genre(s):
- Technical Report
- Abstract:
- Why GAO did this study. Major outbreaks of zoonotic diseases have caused millions of human deaths and cost billions of dollars. Zoonotic diseases can spread to people from U.S. wildlife or animals imported from other countries. A congressional report directed GAO to review issues related to the emergence of zoonotic diseases. This report examines (1) settings where zoonotic pathogens can spread and risk factors for outbreaks; (2) federal efforts to conduct and coordinate surveillance for zoonotic diseases in U.S. wildlife; and (3) federal regulation of imported wildlife to prevent introduction of zoonotic diseases into the U.S. GAO reviewed scientific articles and regulations; reviewed agency strategies and agreements; analyzed data; and interviewed federal officials and other experts. GAO also assessed agency collaboration against GAO’s leading practices identified in prior work. What GAO recommends. GAO is making five recommendations: two each to APHIS and USGS and one to CDC. The recommendations include that APHIS and USGS improve collaboration to establish a national wildlife disease surveillance system and that CDC comprehensively assess zoonotic disease risks for imported wildlife. Regarding the recommendations, APHIS did not comment, USGS concurred, and CDC did not concur. GAO continues to believe that addressing all five recommendations is important.
- Copyright:
- The National Library of Medicine believes this item to be in the public domain. (More information)
- Extent:
- 1 online resource (1 PDF file (iii, 54 pages))
- Illustrations:
- Illustrations
- NLM Unique ID:
- 9918681585106676 (See catalog record)
- Permanent Link:
- http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/9918681585106676