Policy, phylogeny, and the parasite.
Animal diseases gain political attention by their inclusion on lists of global bodies such as those of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE). Inclusion requires national governments to report outbreaks promptly but may lead to trading restrictions between nations in an attempt to limit spread. Detection therefore has consequences that may have direct impact from farm to state levels. We consider here current approaches to discriminating listed parasites from related but unlisted counterparts. We outline necessary drivers for the discrimination of important taxa and how these may be influenced by national policies. Further, we propose a set of 'best practice' measures, broadly based upon current taxonomic philosophies for protists and metazoans, that should be applied when defining taxa for listing as notifiable.
European Union Reference Laboratory for Crustacean Diseases, Centre for Environment, Fisheries, and Aquaculture Science (Cefas), Weymouth Laboratory, Dorset DT4 8UB, UK; Aquatic Pests and Pathogens Group, Cefas, Weymouth Laboratory, Dorset DT4 8UB, UK. Electronic address: grant.stentiford@cefas.co.uk.
Grant D
GD
Stentiford
Aquatic Pests and Pathogens Group, Cefas, Weymouth Laboratory, Dorset DT4 8UB, UK.
Stephen W
SW
Feist
Aquatic Pests and Pathogens Group, Cefas, Weymouth Laboratory, Dorset DT4 8UB, UK.
David M
DM
Stone
Aquatic Pests and Pathogens Group, Cefas, Weymouth Laboratory, Dorset DT4 8UB, UK.
Edmund J
EJ
Peeler
Division of Genomics and Microbial Diversity, Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK.
David
D
Bass
D000818:Animals; D005523:Food Supply / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D038622:Internationality; D010271:Parasites / Q000145:classification*; D010273:Parasitic Diseases, Animal / Q000517:prevention & control*; D010802:Phylogeny; D011050:Policy Making
OIE; food security; systematics; taxonomy; trade; transboundary