Each year, pathogens passed between animals and humans cause more than one billion illnesses and millions of deaths globally. Last year, Emmanuelle Soubeyran took the helm at the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) as one such pathogen was making headlines the world over: H5N1, otherwise known as bird flu, which has so far sickened millions of birds, dozens of species of mammals, and dozens of people around the world, and threatened global food supplies. Under Soubeyran’s leadership, WOAH has played a key role in monitoring the spread and evolution of the avian flu virus in the intergovernmental organization’s 183 member states. In January, WOAH announced that U.S. poultry had been sickened by a specific type of avian influenza for the first time. WOAH, in partnership with groups like the World Health Organization, has also drafted guidelines for how governments should respond to and control outbreaks, and pushed for preventive measures like wearing personal protective equipment and providing access to testing.
Soubeyran, a veterinarian, hopes outbreaks like bird flu underscore to the world the importance of WOAH’s broader work: improving veterinary care networks and boosting investments in animal health systems everywhere. Shoring these up improves human and environmental health, she says, and it allows governments to invest in “economies, food security, public health, and protection of biodiversity.”