library(htmltools)
tags$iframe(
src = "out/interactive_plot2.html",
width = "800px",
height = "600px")Global Animal Health Outbreak Report
Global Animal Health Outbreak Report
Global animal disease is a significant issue to pandemic prevention. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 75%of emerging human infectious diseases originate in animals, with zoonotic pathogens like the novel coronavirus which has caused COVID-19. These infections are also a concern to global health security owing to its ability to rapidly spread internationally, considering global connectivity and proliferation of trade, including trans-boundary movement of animals.Another feature of animal diseases is unpredictable.
The health of humans, domestic and wild animals, plants, and the environment are inter-dependent. By analyzing the time trend, disease-species connection and geographical condition, we can possibly reveal some discoveries that help coordinate animal-human health strategies to prevent future pandemics.
Questions to Answer
In general, what trends have been observed in the number of animal disease reports and the number of disease species globally over the past 20 years?
Disease type: What are the top 10 animal diseases with the highest number of reports globally over the past 20 years?
2.1 What are the trends over time?
Animal species: What is the relationship between species and types of disease?
3.1 Is there a particular disease that is highly prevalent in each species, and if so, which ones are they?
Geographical view: What is the global distribution of the total number of animal disease reports by country?
Data Source
This data is obtained from the https://www.kaggle.com/datasets/jasonrobinson1/animal-health-incident-reportsand provided by Jason Robinson.
This dataset originates from the official WAHIS platform managed by the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH, formerly OIE) WAHIS - World Animal Health Information System. It spans from 2005 to 2025, with details of country-submitted disease reports for domestic and wild animal populations.
Summary of Findings
1.Both the animal health incident reports and disease types have demonstrated distinct trends over the past two decades, especially considering the COVID-19 pandemic.
The number of reports increased from 75 in 2005 to 637 in 2024. And the number of unique disease types reported have continuouslygrew as well. The figure has a tendency to drop in 2025, the incomplete latest data needs to be considered though.
For both them, there has been a notable increase around 2020 to 2024. One of ths reasons is likely the strengthen monitor on zoonotic disease monitoring during the COVID-19 pandemic. One Health, for instance, is an integrated approach to sustainably balance the health of humans, animals, and ecosystems. Further to the COVID-19 pandemic there is renewed interest at the political, scientific and community levels for a One Health approach to disease prevention and surveillance, according to WHO.
2. Top 10 animal diseases and their changing trends
- Top 10 animal diseases with the highest number of reports globally over the past 20 years
| Disease | Total Reports |
|---|---|
| High pathogenicity avian influenza viruses (poultry) (Inf. with) | 966 |
| African swine fever virus (Inf. with) | 704 |
| Influenza A viruses of high pathogenicity (Inf. with) (non-poultry including wild birds) (2017-) | 653 |
| Foot and mouth disease virus (Inf. with) | 417 |
| Bluetongue virus (Inf. with) | 228 |
| Anthrax | 217 |
| Newcastle disease virus (Inf. with) | 214 |
| Low pathogenic avian influenza (poultry) (2006-2021) | 182 |
| Rabies virus (Inf. with) | 157 |
| West Nile Fever | 133 |
Among the top 10 diseases, high pathogenicity avian influenza viruses (poultry) which remains a global concern as WOAH emphasizes, hold the most reports (966) in the past 20 years. High - pathogenic avian influenza (poultry), African swine fever virus, and influenza A (non - poultry) share trends of widespread transmission, which could impact on animal husbandry and cross - species transmission.
3.Horses are affected by as many as 11 different diseases, and poultry is in second place with 10 associated diseases with wider reported numbers though.
- Top 10 animal diseases with the highest reported number by species
| Species | Disease | Cases | Prop |
|---|---|---|---|
| Poultry | High pathogenicity avian influenza viruses (poultry) (Inf. with) | 966 | 0.46043851 |
| Swine | African swine fever virus (Inf. with) | 704 | 0.90025575 |
| Poultry | Influenza A viruses of high pathogenicity (Inf. with) (non-poultry including wild birds) (2017-) | 653 | 0.31124881 |
| Cattle | Foot and mouth disease virus (Inf. with) | 417 | 1.00000000 |
| Poultry | Newcastle disease virus (Inf. with) | 214 | 0.10200191 |
| Poultry | Low pathogenic avian influenza (poultry) (2006-2021) | 182 | 0.08674929 |
| Canine | Rabies virus (Inf. with) | 157 | 1.00000000 |
| Swine | Classical swine fever virus (Inf. with) | 77 | 0.09846547 |
| Horse | Equine infectious anaemia | 69 | 0.40588235 |
| Goat | Sheep pox and goat pox | 66 | 1.00000000 |
To be specific, Horses are associated with multiple diseases like equine herpesvirus - 1 (EH - 1) and equine arteritis virus (EAV). Equine influenza, for example, is a highly contagious ailment impacting racing and breeding on horses. It highlights the vulnerability of horses to diverse pathogens, requiring targeted surveillance and management.
Poultry remains highly vulnerable to High Pathogenicity Avian Influenza (HPAIV), accounting for 966 reports. One of the main reasons could concern with the increasingly global spread of H5N1 in wild birds and poultry farms. According to CEPI reports, the virus has also recently been detected in many other species of mammals in many parts of the world, including seals, mice, goats and domestic cats.
And cattle and swine are primarily impacted by Foot-and-Mouth Disease virus (FMDV) and African Swine Fever Virus (ASF), with ASF causing a loss from $55 billion to $130 billion on China and neighbouring countries according to the ADB report.
4.Global disparities in animal disease reporting reflect both disease distribution and varying surveillance capacities, with WHO emphasizing the need to strengthen monitoring in under-reporting regions.
Russia and portions of East-Asia such as parts of China have acted positively in animal disease report numbers, while most of Africa, South America, and Australia have fewer reported ones, according to the map. However, the results cannot be considered only in quantitative terms.
While reflecting the distribution of disease globally, it also results from countries’ surveillance and reporting capacities. Lower reporting in some areas may not mean that there is less disease, but may be due to limited surveillance capacity. For example, most of the zoonotic infection outbreaks have occurred in remote areas.
Also, as WHO noted, there is inadequate transparency regarding timely reporting. It emphasized the need for investing in strengthening subnational outbreak surveillance and response capacities in the countries frequently affected by these diseases.
