This book provides an overview of the state of animal agriculture and present methodologies and proposals to develop policies that result in sustainable and profitable animal production that will protect human and environmental health, enhance livelihood of smallholders and meet consumer needs. The book combines lessons of the past, factual foundation to understand the present, analytical tools to design and improve policies, case studies that provide both empirical grounding and applications of some of the strategies suggested in this book, and finally, a proposal for the way forward.

Annotation. Illustrated with review studies on animal health economics, this book presents information on the most important economic tools applied to livestock, covering both theory and practical applications. Topics covered include gross margin analysis, partial budgeting, investment and financial appraisal and cost-benefit analysis. There are also sections on decision tree analysis, optimisation methods, value chain analysis, new institutional economics, DALYs and a range of policy analysis tools. International experts contribute on important theoretical and practical aspects of animal health and production economics, with global themes on livestock and poverty.

H1N1 ("swine flu"), SARS, mad cow disease, and HIV/AIDS are a few examples of zoonotic diseases-diseases transmitted between humans and animals. Zoonotic diseases are a growing concern given multiple factors: their often novel and unpredictable nature, their ability to emerge anywhere and spread rapidly around the globe, and their major economic toll on several disparate industries. Infectious disease surveillance systems are used to detect this threat to human and animal health. By systematically collecting data on the occurrence of infectious diseases in humans and animals, investigators can track the spread of disease and provide an early warning to human and animal health officials, nationally and internationally, for follow-up and response. Unfortunately, and for many reasons, current disease surveillance has been ineffective or untimely in alerting officials to emerging zoonotic diseases. Sustaining Global Surveillance and Response to Emerging Zoonotic Diseases assesses some of the disease surveillance systems around the world, and recommends ways to improve early detection and response. The book presents solutions for improved coordination between human and animal health sectors, and among governments and international organizations. Parties seeking to improve the detection and response to zoonotic diseases-including U.S. government and international health policy makers, researchers, epidemiologists, human health clinicians, and veterinarians-can use this book to help curtail the threat zoonotic diseases pose to economies, societies, and health.

Animal health and economics are closely linked. Any decision taken to prevent, control and eliminate an animal disease is based not only on the technical knowledge available about a particular disease but also on the effectiveness and socio-economic aspects associated with interventions and mitigation measures implemented by governments, producers and all the actors along the livestock value chains. Economic rationale drives decisions in assessing particular investments which are likely to result in a benefit for society or for a specific stakeholder, including livestock farmers and communities. These guidelines prepared by FAO will contribute to a better understanding of the importance of economic analysis when assessing the impact of a particular animal disease in production, trade, market access, food security and livelihoods of rural communities, or when designing or implementing an animal health strategy at national, regional or global level. This framework will provide a good communication tool between animal health technicians, veterinarians and economists in developing countries and will encourage a well informed collaboration between veterinarians, animal health experts, economists and social scientists for livestock and socio-economic development. Economic analysis should be an essential part of animal disease policies and disease management strategies.