The proposed pandemic agreement being negotiated at the World Health Organization (WHO) represents a critical opportunity for the global community to prevent future pandemics – including through coordinated multi-sectoral surveillance across human, animal, and environmental health data. As WHO member states gather in closed meetings over the next few week, three experts in wildlife health policy and research present field-based evidence that such a surveillance approach is critical to prevent pandemics.

The next pandemic is not a matter of if, but when, unless strong action is taken. The world remains highly vulnerable to outbreaks of zoonotic diseases that jump from animals to humans due to increasing urbanization, deforestation, and globalized travel.

As the world scrambles to strengthen pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response, the proposed pandemic agreement being negotiated at the WHO represents a critical opportunity for the global community to prevent future pandemics. 

Central to this effort is Article 4 of the draft Pandemic Agreement , which calls for countries to develop plans for coordinated multi-sectoral surveillance across human, animal, and environmental health data. While some countries express concerns about feasibility, such surveillance is not only necessary but entirely achievable with the right global commitment.

Multi-sectoral surveillance takes a One Health approach that recognizes the interdependence of human, animal, and environmental health. Given that the majority of emerging infectious diseases originate in animals, particularly wildlife, this type of surveillance is essential to prevent future pandemics.

In practice, it involves human health workers, veterinarians, environmental scientists, empowered citizens, and others on the spillover frontlines working together to detect early warning signs of potential pathogen emergence and outbreaks.

Lessons from Republic of Congo 

The Republic of Congo (RoC) provides a compelling example of effective multisectoral surveillance. Following devastating Ebola virus outbreaks that took thousands of lives and threatened great ape populations, a collaborative effort between wildlife experts and the Congolese Ministry of Health established a low-cost wildlife mortality reporting network covering 50,000 km².

This system serves as an early warning mechanism for potential Ebola virus outbreaks, which have historically been linked to infected wildlife and consumption of animal carcasses, especially in the Congo Basin. 

The program demonstrates how resource-efficient surveillance can function in challenging settings. Local personnel were trained in safe specimen collection protocols, and geographically distributed bases were equipped with sampling kits.

Critically, the system established in-country diagnostic capabilities for Ebola virus testing, reducing turnaround time from months to hours. The program not only monitored wildlife mortality but also provided educational outreach to over 6,600 people in rural northern RoC. That outreach aimed to encourage behavioral changes to reduce human activities that lead to pathogen spillover.

 This initiative represents the essential elements of multi-sectoral surveillance: cross-sector collaboration, community engagement, strategic resource allocation, and rapid diagnostic capabilities.

While the RoC has not experienced an Ebola epidemic since 2005, this surveillance system has detected anthrax in carcasses and continues to function as an early warning mechanism in a high-risk region, protecting both human communities and the country’s globally significant great ape populations.

Southeast Asia’s wildlife surveillance

Similarly, the WCS initiative WildHealthNet in Southeast Asia has shown how national wildlife health surveillance programs can be built on partnerships with local governments, existing resources, and targeted technical support.

Such wildlife health surveillance programs were first to detect African Swine Fever, a devastating domestic pig disease, in free-ranging wildlife in Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, and identified biosecurity breaches that contributed to its spread. 

The network also identified a significant transnational outbreak of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) in multi-use wetlands, rapidly informing public and livestock health partners to limit onward transmission to domestic animals and humans.

The governments of Lao PDR and Cambodia have now formally adopted legislation codifying the network’s reporting structures and standard operating protocols. Building on this regional progress, WCS has expanded WildHealthNet to additional regions and is helping lead a global community of practice (Wildlife Health Intelligence Network-WHIN).

Some countries with large animal populations are concerned that multi sectoral surveillance, particularly an obligation to identify settings and activities where humans and animals interact, would be onerous and not implementable due to resource limitations and coordination challenges.

Developing countries also worry that institutions, companies, and other countries could profit from the data they share. Meanwhile, developed countries are keen to include multisectoral surveillance so that outbreaks can be detected and mitigated as soon as possible.

Coordination, data-sharing and sovereignty

Coordination between health, animal, and environmental sectors presents challenges, but establishing clear communication protocols, creating joint task forces, and standardizing data-sharing procedures can streamline collaboration. Emerging One Health governance platforms help formalize these mechanisms, ensuring smoother cross-sectoral cooperation.

Regarding data-sharing concerns, the proposed WHO agreement can establish frameworks that protect data sovereignty while enabling critical information exchange. Tiered data sharing – where non-sensitive data is shared widely, while sensitive data remains under member State control – can balance sovereignty with global health security.

Technology significantly reduces the burden of cross-sectoral surveillance. Digital platforms, mobile data collection, and analytics facilitate real-time surveillance without excessive cost and present additional savings through adoption and scaling of common tools.

The RoC initiative demonstrates that even with limited resources, establishing strategic diagnostic capabilities can dramatically reduce response times. Low-cost technologies, like instant messaging groups, can ensure effective communication and surveillance even in low-resource settings.

The cost-benefit case 

The economic benefits of investing in multi-sectoral surveillance far outweigh the costs. The COVID-19 pandemic cost the global economy trillions of dollars (and millions of deaths), while preventative measures would have been exponentially cheaper.

Early detection and containment of future zoonotic threats could prevent not only countless lives lost but also devastating economic consequences. Ebola outbreaks can run from the millions to tens-of-billions for the 2014 West Africa outbreak. The RoC’s surveillance system represents a modest investment compared to the potential costs of another Ebola epidemic.

The draft pandemic agreement, through its Article 4, has the potential to make multi-sector surveillance both achievable and sustainable by facilitating international cooperation, channeling resources, fostering capacity-building, and ensuring standardized protocols. It can empower governance frameworks that formalize multi-sectoral surveillance while safeguarding national sovereignty. 

The stakes are simply too high to exclude coordinated multi sectoral surveillance from the agreement. The perceived challenges are not insurmountable; they are challenges the global community is well-equipped to solve. A world without catastrophic pandemics is within reach, but only if we dare to work together. The time for action is now.

Sarah Olson is director of health research for the health program at the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). She provides leadership and research support to field veterinarians and conservation staff around the world. Her research with WCS has focused on frontline wildlife conservation and One Health challenges, including the wildlife trade and emerging infectious diseases, Ebola virus in great apes and bats, avian influenza in wild birds, and white-nose syndrome in North American bats. She is currently focused on understanding and mitigating wildlife health and zoonotic disease threats  and helping grow sustainable and effective wildlife health surveillance systems.

Manoly Sisavanh is  the WCS Deputy Country Director for Laos Program. She leads the policy dialogue with government in the areas of environmental policy on protected areas, forest and wetland management, supervises counter-wildlife trafficking and One Health programs, and oversees office operations. 

Dr Michel Masozera is WCS director of policy and institutional partnerships for Africa. He is an experienced professional in the field of biodiversity conservation, protected areas management and sustainable development. He received the National Geographic/Buffet Award for Leadership in African Conservation in 2004 for his role in the creation of Nyungwe Forest National Park, one of the largest remaining mountain forests in Rwanda.  

Image Credits: Sebastien Assoignons/ Wildlife Conservation Society, Sarah Olson/ Wildlife Conservation Society, Wildlife Conservation Society Congo, Wildlife Conservation Society.