A ‘passive’ surveillance strategy offers a continuous monitoring of disease occurrence within a population

by reporting notifiable diseases on a case-by-case basis. Passive surveillance is advantageous because it occurs continuously, and it requires few resources. In contrast, ‘active’ surveillance is a proactive strategy for laboratories to disseminate information about notifiable diseases. While the latter method is more costly and labor intensive, it tends to provide a more complete estimate of disease frequency. A robust surveillance system should prioritize data collection, recognising the need for cooperation through a ‘One Health’ agenda (Fooks, 2007, WHO, 2008 and Fisman and Laupland, 2010). An effective system should also be characterized by standardisation and decentralisation, emphasizing locally-based efforts, and by coordination, interpretation and integration of different AUY-922 clinical trial approaches. Carfilzomib in vitro To support standardization, the OIE has proposed a pathway to sustainably improve the compliance of veterinary services, setting international standards as a continuous process of reflection and improvement. Its key components

are performance, vision and strategy. By following this pathway, veterinary services will acquire the knowledge and skills needed to control and prevent rabies (Murray and Aviso, 2012). Where the technology is available, surveillance data can be transferred to a real-time, web-based reporting and communication system, using a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) linked to internet-based mapping tools (Rupprecht et al., 2006b). Reporting systems, such as the Rabies Bulletin Europe (RBE) (Freuling et al., 2012) and the OIE World Animal Health Information Decitabine System (WAHID) interface, depend on consistent

disease reporting, backed up by confirmatory laboratory diagnosis by participating countries, both of which are often lacking. Their dependence on different sectors for the development and reporting of case data demonstrates the need for a multi-sectoral, integrated and inter-disciplinary approach (Fig. 2). Reliable systematic surveillance of human rabies deaths and animal prevalence at the national level (Fig. 3) would markedly improve knowledge and response to rabies, and is urgently needed. More than 30 years ago, the global eradication of smallpox demonstrated that well-supported surveillance campaigns are essential to reduce and potentially eliminate an infectious disease (Fenner et al., 1988). Fortunately, a great deal of progress has been made against rabies. Animal management, including public education, responsible dog ownership and vaccination strategies, have been identified as the keystone of modern control programs. Using this model, the connection between rabies in dogs and humans has been clearly demonstrated through the successful elimination of canine rabies from Western Europe and parts of the Americas (WHO, 2010).