A practical framework for conducting Foreign Animal Disease surveillance

This manuscript was written in honour of Dr. Preben Willeberg to illustrate some tools that may be useful to “make surveillance happen” and to build bridges between science and application in animal health surveillance. The paper illustrates how four elements (science, project management, communication and documentation) may be combined with some tools into a practical framework for Foreign Animal Disease surveillance. Specifically, I will show how the four elements are essential to make surveillance happen and provide a link between science and application in animal health surveillance. The Canadian Notifiable Avian Influenza Surveillance system is used as an example. In surveillance for Foreign Animal Diseases (FAD), with veterinary authorities as the lead and with many stakeholders, project management can support science in building evidence (documentation) that can be delivered (communicated) to trade negotiators and international trade partners. To bridge the gap between science and application in FAD surveillance I propose that we need people with skills in science, project management, communication and documentation.