We aimed to investigate the surveillance system and control measures against highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in captive and rescued wild birds. We administered questionnaires and an interview survey to employees of zoos, aquariums, wildlife rescue centers, and the animal welfare and management divisions of local governments (mainly prefectures, ordinance‐designated cities, and core cities), in addition to collecting the information on the respective websites. Rapid tests on captive birds were predominantly conducted in zoos and aquariums. Approximately 40% of zoos and aquariums accepted rescued wildlife, but >80% stopped accepting animals in the event of an HPAI outbreak in Japan. In contrast, >50% of wildlife rescue centers accepted rescued birds even if an HPAI outbreak occurred within a radius of 30 km from their facilities. Suspected infected animals in zoos and aquariums tended to be isolated, and most of them were considered for euthanasia if HPAI was confirmed. Early detection of HPAI in wild birds, i.e. finding HPAI earlier in wild birds than in poultry or captive birds, was not always successful in the surveillance of the Ministry of Environment of Japan or research institutes such as universities; therefore, it would be preferable for zoos and aquariums to cease rescuing wild birds during the migration and wintering periods regardless of the presence of an HPAI outbreak in Japan. For effective infectious disease control and containment of HPAI in captive animals, we recommend that concerned parties such as local governments, zoos and aquariums should periodically confirm the relevant procedures among themselves and secure genetic test institutions in each local area. The Japanese government and related organizations should also prepare mobile isolation facilities and risk management methods to support zoos, aquariums, and wildlife rescue centers.

Enzootic bovine leukosis is the most common neoplastic disease in cattle caused by the bovine leukemia virus (BLV). Previous studies have shown that allele type in the DRB3 region of the bovine major histocompatibility complex (bovine leukocyte antigen: BoLA in cattle) is associated with resistance or susceptibility to infectious diseases. The Japanese brown (JBR) cattle have a genetic background of small population size, and thus, may exhibit different susceptibility to diseases compared with other cattle breeds. In the present study, we analyzed the diversity of the BoLA-DRB3 gene and attempted to clarify the genetic composition of the Kumamoto and Kochi strains belonging to the JBR.

Allele typing of the BoLA-DRB3 gene of 184 JBR detected 16 and 13 alleles in the Kumamoto and Kochi strains, respectively. The analysis of the observed (Ho) and expected (He) heterozygosity of the JBR based on allele frequencies, as well as Fis (using Ho and He), which indicates the inbreeding coefficient within a population, showed each population to have different BoLA-DRB3 gene diversities. Consequently, the degree of genetic difference among the populations (Fst) was analyzed based on the allele frequencies of the BoLA-DRB3 gene. The results showed the JBR populations to be genetically closer to the native Philippine and Myanmar cattle populations than the Japanese black, Japanese Shorthorn, Holstein or Jersey population. Furthermore, the proportions of cattle with at least on allele, which was reported to be associated with low proviral load (PVL) on infection of BLV, were 15.7% (20/127) and 63.1% (37/57) in Kumamoto and Kochi strain, respectively, and showed a significant difference. In the future, the direct evaluation of the BoLA-DRB3 gene allele types and PVL in BLV-infected individual cattle is warranted. In addition, the PVL of BLV-infected JBR of the Kumamoto strain is known to be lower than that of other breeds in Japan. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the possibility of a different mechanism on PVL regulation from allele types.

The results of BoLA-DRB3 gene diversity and allele frequency analysis indicate that the JBR has a different genetic background from the Japanese black and the Shorthorn populations and possesses low PVL-associated alleles. Further studies are needed to analyze the relationship between PVL and BoLA-DRB3 gene in JBR to clarify the susceptibility of JBR to BLV.

Animal health surveillance has been conducted for a long time targeting a variety of livestock infectious diseases in Japan. For example, surveillance of Brucellosis and tuberculosis for cattle has been conducted more than 70 years for the eradication purpose. Meanwhile, after the emergence of novel infectious diseases such as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), these diseases are added to routine surveillance. Animal health surveillance is important for decision-making in planning prevention and control measures for infectious diseases. However, to sustainably conduct animal health surveillance under limited human and financial resources, building an effective and efficient surveillance planning scheme is essential by clarifying the goal of the surveillance targeting the important diseases in animal health. In this paper, we introduce the recent initiatives to improve the animal health surveillance system in Japan, which are closely collaborating with the animal health authority. Specifically, the following contents were described in detail : 1) a renewed framework to review the surveillance systems, which involves experts of epidemiology and animal infectious diseases, local and national animal health authorities, and stakeholders ; 2) evaluation of disease-free status for Brucellosis and tuberculosis in cattle and establishment of new surveillance programs for these diseases ; and 3) establishment of new arbovirus surveillance program of cattle for enhancing early warning against arbovirus infections ; and 4) development of an animal health surveillance database system.

ISVEE16 was held in Halifax, Canada from August 8^th to 12^th 2022. ISVEE is the largest international symposium in the field of Veterinary Epidemiology and Economics. The theme of this symposium was “Connecting animals, people, and their shared environment”. There were over 750 oral and poster presentations, categorized into sessions such as the capacity building of veterinary services, the global burden of animal diseases, antimicrobial resistance, risk assessment, mathematical models of infectious disease, randomized controlled trial, and epidemiology research for diseases of each animal including aquatic animals. The next ISVEE (ISVEE17) will be held in Sydney, Australia in November 2024.