Surveillance for Early Detection of High-Consequence Pests and Pathogens

Abstract

Surveillance is one of the core activities of national organizations responsible for human, animal, or plant health, with the goal of demonstrating the absence of infection or infestation, determining the presence or distribution of infection or infestation, and/or detecting as early as possible exotic or emerging pests and pathogens that may be harmful to agriculture and the environment. Surveillance is a tool to establish absence of the pest or pathogen, monitor trends, facilitate the mitigation and control of infection or infestation, provide data for use in risk analysis, substantiate the rationale for sanitary measures, and provide assurances to trading partners, producers, and the public. The type of surveillance applied depends on the objectives of the surveillance, the available data sources, resources, and the outputs needed to support decision-making.