ArticleBMJ global health2024
How feasible or useful are timeliness metrics as a tool to optimise One Health outbreak responses?
Article in BMJ global health, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed.
- Completion of early response actions accounted for most elapsed time across the 7-1-7 pathway in Sierra Leone, 2023-2025.Public health in practice (Oxford, England) · 2026Article
- Early Detection Intervals for Evaluating Event-Based Surveillance System: Reference Dataset Development Study.JMIR public health and surveillance · 2026Article
- Estimating the impact of decreasing vaccination response times for outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases in low- and middle-income countries.BMC global and public health · 2026Article
- Association between timeliness of detection, notification and response and the magnitude, severity and duration of disease outbreaks: a retrospective review of 84 outbreaks in Uganda, 2017-2022.BMJ global health · 2025Article
- More Timely Response to Outbreaks of Zoonotic Compared to Non-Zoonotic Diseases in Animals in Tanzania.Veterinary medicine and science · 2025Article
- An analysis of One Health timeliness metrics across multisectoral public health emergencies in Uganda.Communications medicine · 2025Article
- Strengthening Outbreak Detection in Africa to Achieve the 7-1-7 Global Framework: Challenges and Opportunities.Public health reviews · 2025Review
- Adoption and use of the 7-1-7 metrics for effective detection, notification, and early response actions to public health events: A mixed-methods study in Cambodia, January 2023 to July 2025.Wellcome open research · 2025Article
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Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionAs timeliness metrics gain traction to assess and optimise outbreak detection and response performance, implementation and scale-up require insight into the perspectives of stakeholders adopting these tools. This study sought to characterise the feasibility and utility of tracking One Health outbreak milestones across relevant human, animal, plant, and environmental sectors to systematically quantify timeliness metrics in Uganda, a country prone to outbreaks of WHO priority diseases.
methodsA database of outbreak events occurring in Uganda between 2018 and 2022 was compiled. Outbreak reports meeting our inclusion criteria were reviewed to quantify the frequency of milestone reporting. Key informant interviews were conducted with expert stakeholders to explore the feasibility and utility of tracking metrics using a framework analysis. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected and analysed concurrently.
resultsOf the 282 public health emergencies occurring between 2018 and 2022, 129 events met our inclusion criteria, and complete data were available for 82 outbreaks. For our qualitative portion, 10 informants were interviewed from 7 institutions, representing the human, animal and environmental sectors. Informants agreed most One Health milestones are feasible to track, which was supported by the frequency of milestone reporting; however, there was a demonstrated need for increased reporting of after-action reviews, as well as outbreak start and end dates. Predictive alerts signalling potential outbreaks and preventive responses to alerts are seen as challenging to routinely capture, reflecting the lack of public health action for these domains.
conclusionDespite consensus among stakeholders that timeliness metrics are a beneficial tool to assess outbreak performance, not all One Health metrics are being tracked consistently, thereby missing opportunities to optimise epidemic intelligence, preparedness and prevention. The feasibility of tracking these metrics depends on the integration of reporting channels, enhanced documentation of milestones and development of guidance for early adopters, recognising country-specific on-the-ground realities and challenges to national scaling efforts.
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