published on
01/16/2026
written by
Nahoko Ieda
Nahoko is a Scientific Officer at the WOAH Observatory, leveraging her expertise in analysing data related to animal health and welfare. With a Ph.D. in animal reproduction, she has worked across Asia–Pacific and the Middle East on livestock development, sustainable animal production, antimicrobial resistance and One Health since 2015.
When I moved from Tokyo to Paris to join the Observatory team at the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), one of my main tasks was contributing to the Second Observatory Monitoring Report. Back in 2024, both the Observatory and its monitoring report were freshly launched projects, full of potential, but also marked by challenges connected to their continued development and a number of practical and theoretical questions.
The main goal of the Observatory Monitoring Report is to assess the uptake of WOAH standards by its Members. If you are not familiar with the concept, the standards define best practices are measures on animal health and welfare, upon which Members agree by consensus. Once adopted by Members, they are meant to be implemented at national level. And here comes the work of the Observatory: understanding the level of this implementation, as well as the obstacles and the recommendations that may help to overcome them.
Working on the Observatory Monitoring Report, I found the most fascinating and challenging aspect to be the cross-analyses of datasets both internal and external to WOAH. Advancing our understanding on the level of use of WOAH standards relies on and builds on existing knowledge, which can only be achieved is one of the highest expressions of scientific research, which requires technical and semantic interoperability of the data.
The Observatory also spent a significant amount of time making sure the indicators reflect facts as accurately as possible and are interpreted correctly, so that our recommendations both for WOAH itself and its Members are relevant and meaningful. This is why I am proud that the result of this collective intellectual effort is now available for everyone to use.
Hoping you will dive deep into the report, here are two key things I learned and a k we produced in these years of work.
1. Zoning and compartmentalisation are increasingly reported to WOAH
The reporting of zoning and compartmentalisation has increased steadily since the initiation of the reporting systems through the World Animal Health Information System (WAHIS). The percentage of disease-affected Members using zoning as a control measure increased from 41% in 2005 to 67% in 2021, although figures disaggregated by diseases fluctuated both for terrestrial and aquatic animal diseases.
2. The quality of data on antimicrobial use is improving
Every year, WOAH Members are invited to share data on the use of antimicrobials in their territory through the animal antimicrobial use portal (ANIMUSE). From the analysis, we have seen that the number of members using the most advanced and detailed reporting option has nearly tripled in eight years, indicating growing adherence to the relevant Code Chapters. This means we have now better-quality data in hand to tackle antimicrobial resistance, which is a huge threat to animals, human and environmental health – thus, to One Health.
A key outcome: Incorporating a master data of animal disease names in the analysis
For the first time, we managed to incorporate a reference list of animal disease names in our analysis that was developed as a part of WOAH’s improvement of data management – which was a part of the Organisation’s 7th Strategic Plan – and will be maintained as a master data. To understand why it’s important, try to imagine having to analyse many different datasets where animal disease is called by different names or in a different format across different data collection systems in the world. You need a tool to put order into all this information, if you aim to understand something about disease situations, control or prevention measures taken by Members, self-declaration or official status of disease freedom and so on.
What do we do with all this data and analysis? The Second Observatory Monitoring Report sets a baseline for the implementation of WOAH’s new Strategic Plan, while presenting a series of recommendations for WOAH itself, as well as its Members consisting of national competent authorities and decision makers on animal health and welfare issues.
Experience and scientific evidence show that standards are only effective when implemented. To maximise their impact, we need to understand the gaps and the obstacles that limit their uptake. This is why the Second Observatory Monitoring Report represents an important step towards a bigger goal. While the next edition is set to be published in 2030, there is still a wealth of studies and surveys to be conducted in the meantime.
The Animal Echo aims to promote individual and collective understanding of animal health and welfare. We bring you insights and opinions from experts across the world. The opinions expressed in The Animal Echo are those of the author (s) and may not necessarily reflect WOAH’s official position.
Continue reading
Receive the latest updates from our Organisation, network, and partners.
This includes Members’ self-declarations, news articles, scientific insights, publications, and more.
