WOAH launches ZOOSURSY, a new disease surveillance project funded by the European Union 

After seven years of improving the surveillance capacities of countries for zoonotic diseases, the EBO-SURSY Project was closed in July. The project’s lead, the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), has confirmed that the sequel project called ZOOSURSY^* began mid-October 2024.

ZOOSURSY is funded by the European Union, under a partnership between the Team Europe Initiative and the African Union. This partnership is focused on developing sustainable health security in Africa using a One Health approach. The project is based on the objectives of the EU Global Health Strategy adopted in November 2022, reasserting the EU’s commitment to tackle key global health challenges, notably pandemic prevention, preparedness and response.   

ZOOSURSY will build on the success and principles of the EBO-SURSY Project, who has worked alongside Veterinary Services and wildlife authorities in ten countries, helping them build their knowledge and capacities on wildlife surveillance systems. From building One Health collaborations for disease surveillance activities to increasing the capacity of students and workers through scholarships and trainings, the project worked with a variety of people from local to regional level. It increased scientific research on bats, Ebola, and the relationship between viral transmission and ecological factors. The project’s achievements have been encapsulated in a final report, detailing key figures, its partnerships, and its impact across Africa. 

ZOOSURSY will have a greater geographic reach than its predecessor, expanding to East and Austral Africa, while also increasing its thematic work to include legislative advocacy. New scientific partners will join the consortium, increasing the project’s One Health potential. The goal of the new project will remain similar to the first: enhancing early detection and surveillance systems for wildlife in order to prevent the outbreak of zoonotic diseases with epidemic potential. Additionally, WOAH hopes to champion the implementation of its Wildlife Health Framework in Africa, thereby helping advance global health security efforts. 

One of the goals of ZOOSURSY is to capitalise on lessons learned and results achieved in the  EBO-SURSY Project. This includes applying the results of scientific research and publications from EBO-SURSY towards the creation of new animal health related legislative policies and disease risk frameworks. It will also mean continuing to build national and regional capacities through regular workshops promoting One Health strategies and supporting regional scientific talent through scholarships and other professional opportunities.  

Some of the main activities of ZOOSURSY will be: 

• Monitoring of wildlife health by multisectoral teams, in order to better understand some zoonoses or study new wildlife diseases
• Supporting the development of rapid disease testing and new innovative diagnostic tools for emerging and reemerging zoonotic diseases. 
• Developing participatory surveillance systems in selected target countries ​that engage communities. 
• Sharing evidence-based recommendations with the public and animal health authorities​. 
• Raising awareness on disease risks with local communities through radio and theatre.  
• Updating communication tools to ensure local communities ​have access to the latest information and science.  

Animal health focused projects like ZOOSURSY are vital, as development projects are more often centred on human health. However, the health of animals, humans and the environment are interdependent and interconnected. Across the world, billions of people depend on farm animals for their livelihoods, while wild animals are crucial for food security, ecosystem services, and also play a cultural role. Animal health projects allow us to consider how human actions such as habitat destruction, mining, deforestation, and more, are engendering biodiversity loss and negatively impacting animals and even human society. Specifically, these human actions have increased the risk of zoonotic disease emergence by bringing humans, domestic animals, and wild animals into closer contact than ever before.  

Chronic under-investment in public services, particularly in Veterinary Services and public health services dedicated to zoonotic diseases, has resulted in significant gaps in a country’s ability to respond effectively. Coordination between national authorities for human, animal, and environmental health is often lacking, leading to obstacles in establishing functional disease surveillance systems.  

ZOOSURSY, following in the footsteps of its predecessor the EBO-SURSY Project, is committed to helping countries close these coordination gaps, and safeguarding human, animal, and environmental health. Only by working together towards the common goal of a more sustainable world, can we make the future safer and healthier for everyone. 

Because animal health is our health. 
It’s everyone’s health.

^{*The full title of ZOOSURSY is: Improving knowledge and management capacities to strengthen surveillance systems of priority emerging and re-emerging zoonotic diseases at the animal-human-environment interface. 
**Project implementing partners: Le Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement (CIRAD), Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD), Institut Pasteur, Helmholtz Institut für One Health (HIOH), and the University of Helsinki.  These organisations will also work on ZOOSURSY with their many local partners in target countries.}