1. Introduction
Veterinary Services and Aquatic Animal Health Services safeguard the health and welfare of animals and those who care for them, as well as the safety of animal products and the people who consume them. These Services look out for animal health symptoms and risks, and recommend actions to contain, control or eliminate threats.
Today, Veterinary Services and Aquatic Animal Health Services face new and emerging threats: disinformation and misinformation. Misinformation is inaccurate information, usually spread without harmful intent. Disinformation is inaccurate or misleading information, deliberately created and spread to cause harm to target governments, organisations or people.
If no action is taken, the consequences can be significant, threatening lives and livelihoods, undermining trust, and taking up resources. Misinformation and disinformation can spread rapidly, causing confusion and hampering emergency control and response measures. They increase the risk that animal and zoonotic diseases or other health threats will spread and cause economic and social damage.
These threats are not just directed at Veterinary Services and Aquatic Animal Health Services. Disinformation actions in particular can be criminal in nature or enable/support criminal or terrorist activities, and therefore concern Law Enforcement agencies.
Disinformation and misinformation became particularly visible during the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, international agencies, governments, scientists, the media, civil society groups and concerned citizens are taking action to pinpoint the challenges, as well as to guide organisations and individuals on how to prevent and tackle these issues.
To orient Veterinary Services, Aquatic Animal Health Services and Law Enforcement to these issues and introduce some key strategies to manage disinformation and misinformation, these guidelines have been prepared by the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) and the International Criminal Police Organisation (INTERPOL). They draw from a June 2022 virtual workshop convened as part of the WOAH, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and INTERPOL Project on ‘building resilience against agro-crime and agro-terrorism’, which was funded by Global Affairs Canada’s Weapons Threat Reduction Program.
The guidelines provide a starting point for these services and agencies, as well as organisations working in animal health emergencies, to prepare for, detect and respond to disinformation and misinformation. Since this is a fast-moving area with much information and guidance already available, this document includes links to further resources that offer more detail on specific strategies and actions.