In order to promote the multi-sectoral collaboration and to establish integrated surveillance mechanisms for the control of zoonotic influenza in China using the One Health approach, FAO China Emergency Center for Transboundary Animal Diseases (ECTAD) Office, with support of the FAO ECTAD Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (RAP), organized the Stakeholder Consultative Workshop to Strengthen the Influenza Surveillance Networks in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province from 8 to 9 September 2016. One of the key achievements of the workshop was a roadmap for a project of integrated surveillance on zoonotic influenza, generated by the end of the workshop, with Guangdong Province selected as the pilot province.

Over 30 representatives from the human and animal health sectors in China, research institutions, universities, as well as international agencies, including United States Agency for International Development (USAID), U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (USCDC), EcoHealth Alliance, FAO ECTAD RAP and FAO China ECTAD Office attended the workshop.

The two-day workshop was hosted and facilitated by Dr Wantanee Kalpravidh, the Regional Manager of FAO ECTAD RAP, who reiterated to the participants the importance of One Health approach and joint actions at animal-human-environment interface to the detection, prevention and intervention to the threats of potential pandemic zoonosis. The workshop started with information sharing session about the surveillance activities carried out by national and international stakeholders in the past three years, followed by a series of highly participatory sessions to identify gaps, challenges and synergies. All participants were actively engaged in the participatory sessions.