The Virology Unit at Institut Pasteur du Cambodge recently organized a consultative workshop held from May 15th to 17th, 2024, at the Phnom Penh Hotel. This event focused on enhancing and applying effective communication and reporting strategies, risk mitigation measures, and prevention through environmental surveillance in high-risk live animal markets.

The workshop convened key stakeholders from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), Ministry of Health (MoH), Ministry of Environment (MoE), along with representatives from non-governmental and international organizations, academia, and donors. Participants engaged in exercises, interactive presentations, and group discussions on how environmental surveillance using metagenomic data can guide public/animal health decisions and disease control.

Key outcomes included a deeper understanding of the barriers and advantages of implementing and communicating environmental surveillance results, the development of programs for interpreting and using these data, and preliminary data for a roadmap for integrating environmental surveillance data into One Health decision-making.

This workshop not only underscored the significance of environmental surveillance and metagenomics in early disease detection but also emphasized the importance of a collaborative One Health approach in enhancing public, animal, and environmental health in Cambodia.