A review of domestic animal diseases within the Pacific Islands region

•Current information on animal diseases in Pacific Island countries and territories (PICTs) is scarce and no longer up to date.•References retrieved from the peer-reviewed and gray literature over the last 20 years provide information on 116 diseases of domestic animals in 17 PICTs.•Sixteen diseases or pathogens included in surveillance studies were not detected or reported as not present over 20 years of reporting by PICTs.•There is a need for more up-to-date studies on animal disease prevalence distribution to be carried out.

The Pacific Island countries and territories (PICTs) are reported to be free of the most serious infectious livestock diseases which are prevalent in other parts of the globe, such as Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, Foot and Mouth Disease or Rabies. Yet there is a lack of scientifically based evidence to confirm this animal health status. This paper reviews what has been published on diseases of domestic animals in the Pacific Islands region with a particular focus on data from the last 20 years (1992–2012). Relevant published papers were identified by a computerized literature search of two electronic databases (PubMed and Web of Knowledge). The latest reports on the animal health situation submitted by the PICTs to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) were accessed on the World Animal Health Information Database (WAHID) interface and included in this review. Additionally, paper searches of resources were undertaken at the library of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) in Fiji to retrieve any relevant grey literature for this review. The study eligibility criteria included qualitative or quantitative information on any disease (bacterial, viral, parasitic and other health disorders) affecting domestic terrestrial animals (mammals, reptiles, birds and bees) in any of the 22 PICTs members of the SPC. A total of 158 eligible references were retrieved of which only 77 (48.7%) were published since 1992 and analysed in more details. One hundred and one diseases and pathogens were reported on for bee, bird, carabao, cat, cattle, crocodile, deer, dog, donkey, goat, horse, pig, pigeon, poultry and sheep in the Oceania region and in 17 PICTs in particular. The paper gives information about known animal diseases, their reported prevalence and diseases not reported within the Pacific Islands region. The study found retrieved literature on animal diseases in PICTs was scarce and no longer up to date. There is a need to improve the published knowledge on the current animal disease status in the region.

Graphical abstractKnowledge of terrestrial animal diseases in Pacific Island countries and territories is scarce and obsolete. These islands constitute a significant tropical region of the world and the livestock populations on these islands are potential hot spots for emerging diseases.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide