World Animal Health Information System (WAHIS) as a tool to support decision making and research in animal health

The World Animal Health Information System (WAHIS) collects and publishes a wealth of information gathered by individual countries’ Veterinary Services, including detailed country-specific information on outbreaks of diseases listed by the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH, founded as OIE), including emerging diseases, in domestic animals and wildlife, and non-listed diseases in wildlife. The dataset is one of the most comprehensive in the world as 182 Members are obliged to report this information to the WOAH in a timely manner. As such, the data provides invaluable inputs for veterinary services, animal health researchers and stakeholders to gain insight into risk from infectious diseases, for example through the development of predictive models, risk assessments to address the risk from trade of animal products, globalisation or movement of wildlife or vectors across country borders. This paper reviews previous analyses that have been conducted using this data and outlines ways in which it can be used for preparedness and risk assessment.