Notification of animal and human diseases: the global legal basis. (Special Issue: Coordinating surveillance policies in animal health and food safety 'from farm to fork'.)

摘要

The successful control of a disease, and a possible epidemic, depends on rapid access to complete information on the disease situation. To ensure a timely response, diseases must be immediately notified in a transparent manner. The rapid exchange of information about animal diseases, including zoonoses, was the key objective in the establishment of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) in 1924. For diseases concerning humans, a set of new rules dealing with the quick reporting of infectious diseases - the International Health Regulations - was adopted by Members of the World Health Organization (OMS) in 2005. The article explains these two systems of notification, which make information accessible to the public and allow decision-makers to better manage the risks related to the diseases concerned.