Animal diseases can cause not only significant impact on animal health and welfare, but also serious socio-economic and environmental damage, and in some cases, directly threaten human health. While research is fundamental to ensure the development of adequate disease prevention and control understanding and tools, the level of funding in this area is currently low. However, more could be achieved, even with the current level of investment, through the coordination of research efforts and the sharing of results.

STAR-IDAZ IRC

To achieve this, an international forum of R&D programme owners, the STAR-IDAZ IRC, was established with the aim to improve research collaboration and work towards common research agendas and coordinated R&D funding on priority animal diseases, including zoonoses. The STAR-IDAZ IRC is supported by the OIE, which co-hosts its scientific secretariat known as SIRCAH.

The STAR-IDAZ IRC publishes a yearly State-of-the-Art Report, which presents current initiatives and recent scientific literature, organised to identify and highlight trends and advances in research on animal health, with a focus on priority animal diseases, at a global level.

State-of-the-art Report

The aim of this report is to provide STAR-IDAZ IRC Members (i.e., public and private research funders, as well as other animal health stakeholders) with an overview of the existing opportunities for speeding up research, fostering collaboration, and providing an outline of the latest discoveries on priority animal health diseases. Overall, this can support the decisions of policymakers and research funders to accelerate coordinated development of control methods at the international level.