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Summary Objective To identify attributes of zoological institutions and surveillance system factors that were associated with participation in the West Nile Virus Surveillance System for Zoological Institutions in the USA, and to assess the potential effectiveness of zoos as a novel data source for surveillance of emerging infectious zoonoses. Study design Retrospective. Methods The number of specimens submitted between August 2001 and December 2006 for West Nile virus testing was determined for each institution. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the distribution of number of specimens submitted and features of the institutions. Student’s t -test was used to assess potential associations between institutional and animal collection characteristics and the total number of specimens submitted by each institution. Results Factors associated with institutional participation include: submitting specimens for specific purposes of serosurvey testing, sentinel surveillance, vaccine titre checks, vaccine effectiveness, submitting specimens for multiple reasons, and communication with public health. Conclusion Understanding how zoo and surveillance system characteristics are associated with participation in this surveillance effort may enhance public health efforts and the design of future zoological surveillance efforts.

The movement of people and animals within zoos and aquariums poses a risk of zoonotic disease dissemination within human and animal populations. Flu at the Zoo is a table-top exercise designed to provide animal exhibitors and regulatory agency personnel an opportunity to evaluate their outbreak response plans. Developed for zoos and aquariums in Illinois, Indiana, and Missouri, it created a realistic scenario of an avian influenza disease outbreak. A total of 82 participants attended the exercise held in June of 2012. Representatives from each of the 16 accredited zoos and aquariums in the region attended, along with representatives from the public health, agricultural animal health, wildlife, poultry industry, and emergency management sectors. Recommendations for the participants included the need for increased training opportunities for zoo and aquarium personnel on the Incident Command System and National Inci- dent Management System. It was also recommended that communications be enhanced between zoos and aquariums and the local, state, and federal agency first responder personnel. Suggestions for improving the exercise included: pro- viding the situation manual to players in advance of the exercise and creating discussion groups based on jurisdictional boundaries so that legal authorities and policy differences across state boundaries didn't impede the discussion.

From January 2006 to January 2008, we collected 1,045 fecal samples from 90 individually-recognized, free-ranging, eastern chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) inhabiting Gombe National Park, Tanzania to determine how patterns of parasitism are affected by demographic and ecological covariates. Seventeen parasite species were recovered, including eight nematodes (Oesophagostomum sp., Necator sp., Probstmayria gombensis, Strongyloides fulleborni, Ascaris sp., Trichuris sp., Abbreviata caucasica, and an unidentified strongyle), 1 cestode (Bertiella sp.), 1 trematode (Dicrocoeliidae), and 7 protozoa (Entamoeba coli, Entamoeba histolytica/dispar, Iodamoeba butschlii, Troglodytella abrassarti, Troglocorys cava, Balantidium coli, and an unidentified protozoa). Significant differences were observed in interannual infection prevalence and parasite richness between 2006 and 2007. Intercommunity comparisons demonstrated higher prevalence of parasites for the Mitumba compared with Kasekela chimpanzee community. Prevalence of several parasites was strongly correlated with monthly rainfall patterns for both 2006 and 2007. Subadult chimpanzees had lower prevalence for most parasite species compared with adults in both years and also yielded a lower average parasite species richness. No significant differences were observed between males and females in prevalence in 2006. However, in 2007 the prevalence of S. fulleborni and I. butschlii were higher in males than in females. Parasite prevalence and richness were substantially higher in this multiyear study compared with previous short-term studies of the gastrointestinal parasites of Gombe chimpanzees. This coupled with the significant interannual and interseasonal variation, demonstrated in this study, emphasizes the importance of multiyear monitoring with adequate sample size to effectively determine patterns of parasitism in wild primate populations.