State of the World’s Animal Health Report

• 26 May 2025

Source: DTE 

Why in News?  

The World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) released its first-ever State of the World’s Animal Health report, warning of the growing spread of infectious diseases like African Swine Fever, avian influenza, and Lumpy skin disease, which threaten agrifood system stability. 

What are the Key Concerns Raised by the State of the World’s Animal Health Report? 

• High Zoonotic Risk: 47% of reported diseases are zoonotic, capable of infecting humans. 
• Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Threat: Without urgent action, AMR could impact 2 billion people and cause economic losses of USD 100 trillion by 2050. 
• Cross-Species Transmission Increasing: The spread of infectious diseases like avian influenza is increasingly crossing species barriers, affecting a wider range of animals beyond their traditional hosts, as outbreaks in mammals doubled. 
• Drivers of Zoonotic Disease:  Climate change is altering ecosystems and enabling the spread of pathogens into new regions and species.  
  • Global trade and the increased movement of animals and animal products have amplified the risk of disease transmission across borders. 
  • Expanding human-wildlife contact increases zoonotic spillover risk, worsened by weak veterinary systems and poor vaccine access in developing nations. 

What are the Key Diseases Affecting Animals Across the Globe?

Disease	Cause	Description
Avian Influenza	Influenza virus  (Orthomyxoviridae family)	It is a highly contagious viral disease affecting domestic and wild birds, and occasionally mammals including humans. It is caused by multiple virus subtypes (e.g., H5N1, H5N3, H5N8).
African Swine Fever (ASF)	ASF virus  (Asfarviridae family)	It is a highly contagious viral disease of domestic and wild pigs, whose mortality rate can reach 100%.
Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD)	Aphthovirus (Picornaviridae family)	It is a highly contagious viral disease affecting cloven-hoofed animals like cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs, causing fever and blister-like sores.
Peste des Petits Ruminants	Morbillivirus (Paramyxoviridae family)	It affects goats, sheep, and some wild relatives of domesticated small ruminants, as well as camels. It was first reported in Ivory Coast in 1942.
Lumpy Skin Disease	Lumpy skin disease virus (Poxviridae family).	It is a cattle disease causing fever, skin nodules, weight loss, and swollen lymph nodes.
Bluetongue	Bluetongue virus (Reoviridae family)	It is an infectious, non-contagious, vector-borne viral disease affecting wild and domestic ruminants like sheep, goats, cattle, buffaloes, deer, African antelope, and camels.
New World Screwworm	NWS fly larvae (Calliphoridae family )	It infests the living flesh of warm-blooded animals, most commonly livestock and less commonly birds, pets, and humans.
Nipah Virus	Nipah virus (Paramyxoviridae family)	It was first detected in pigs in Malaysia and Singapore. It affects animals like pigs and horses, causing respiratory and neurological symptoms, with serious potential for human transmission.
Rinderpest	Morbillivirus (Paramyxoviridae family)	It is also known as cattle plague, is a highly contagious viral disease that primarily affected cattle, buffalo, and other even-toed ungulates. Rinderpest was the first animal disease to be globally eradicated by vaccination.

What is the World Organization for Animal Health? 

• About: The WOAH, originally founded as the Office International des Epizooties (OIE) in 1924, is an intergovernmental organization headquartered in Paris, France. 
  • It was founded in response to the global rinderpest outbreak. 
  • The World Assembly of Delegates is WOAH’s top decision-making body, comprising representatives from all 183 member countries, including India.  
    • It meets annually in Paris, with each country having one vote.  
• WOAH’s Standards and Guidelines: WOAH develops and maintains a comprehensive set of reference documents, including: 
  • The Terrestrial Animal Health Code and its Manual of Diagnostic Tests and Vaccines for Terrestrial Animals (covering mammals, birds, reptiles, bees). 
  • The Aquatic Animal Health Code and its diagnostic manual (covering fish, amphibians, molluscs, crustaceans). 
• WOAH’s and WTO: WOAH is formally recognized under the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Agreement) as the international standard-setting body for animal health.  
  • WTO members are encouraged to base their sanitary measures on WOAH’s standards to harmonize regulations globally and facilitate trade. 

 

 

UPSC Civil Services Examination, Previous Year Question (PYQ) 

Q. H1N1 virus is sometimes mentioned in the news with reference to which one of the following diseases? (2015)

(a) AIDS 
(b) Bird flu 
(c) Dengue  
(d) Swine flu 

Ans: (d)

Q. The term ‘ACE2’ is talked about in the context of (2021)

(a) Genes introduced in the genetically modified plants 
(b) Development of India’s own satellite navigation system 
(c) Radio collars for wildlife tracking 
(d) Spread of viral diseases 

Ans: (d)