Adaptation of the One Health Zoonotic Disease Prioritization Tool for Government and Privately Owned Companion Animal Zoonotic Disease Surveillance

Abstract

The U.S. Army Veterinary Services (AVS) provides public health guidance, consultation, and clinical support regarding zoonoses for the Department of Defense (DoD). AVS One Health Division was tasked with developing a surveillance tool for zoonoses of companion animals presenting to DoD veterinary facilities. Such a tool could help monitor the spread of zoonoses between U.S. military Service Members, their family members, and their pets. The primary objective was to prioritize zoonoses of interest for companion animal disease surveillance in the DoD. AVS implemented a semi-quantitative One Health approach to prioritize zoonoses of interest. The prioritization process followed five steps: (1) generate list of zoonoses to be ranked that are applicable to a DoD companion animal disease surveillance system, (2) develop criteria to identify the importance of a zoonoses, (3) develop criteria definition questions, (4) rank criteria, and (5) rank zoonoses. The prioritization process resulted in a ranked list of 14 zoonoses of interest which was presented to AVS leadership with three potential courses of action. Twelve zoonoses were selected for inclusion in DoD Companion Animal Disease Surveillance. The prioritized list of diseases was the first step in developing a DoD companion animal disease surveillance effort. Mirroring such an approach in civilian companion animal populations could fill a critical public health gap.