Zoonoses in South-East Asia: a regional burden,a global threat

摘要

Zoonoses are an issue of growing interest in South-East Asia, where environmental factors andsocio-economic context favor the endemization of well-known diseases and the emergence ofnew pathogens at the human-wildlife interface. However, the health status of the region withrespect to many zoonotic diseases remains poorly defined, despite the high overall burden ofzoonoses on the countries of the area, and the global risk of new biological threats in theregion. The first objective of this paper was to provide an update of data on the zoonosescommonly described by the scientific community and reported by governmental institutionsand international organizations in continental South-East Asia. The analysis of the available dataled to the identification of some trends in the evolution of the diseases, as well as some gapsin knowledge and in the current surveillance and control networks. In light of these findings,we discuss measures for effectively addressing zoonotic disease issues in South-East Asia,such as the allocation of funds for research and for surveillance and control programs, and amulti-sectoral and multi-disciplinary approach at various levels.