The evaluation of surveillance systems in veterinary public health: a scoping review on the attributes and assessment frameworks most commonly used

Regular evaluation of disease surveillance programmes is essential to ensure they provide reliable and useful information in an efficient manner. Surveillance systems’ performance can be assessed using measurable characteristics, defined as attributes. This scoping review provides a global overview of the attributes and methodological frameworks used to assess veterinary public health surveillance systems over the past 15 years. A literature search was conducted on Pubmed and Scopus for studies published between 2010 and 2025, identifying 125 eligible studies, with 116 describing the evaluation of 157 surveillance systems, and nine describing an evaluation framework. The studies spanned all continents, with Europe, Africa, North America, and Asia being the most represented, and typically targeted multiple diseases or zoonoses such as avian influenza, bovine tuberculosis, and rabies. A total of 67 evaluation attributes were identified and analysed, highlighting both commonly used and underutilized measures of system performance. The evaluation frameworks represent useful available tools aiming to facilitate the evaluation of surveillance systems. However, their actual use is limited especially in the animal health domain, pointing to opportunities to strengthen evaluation practices. The evaluation of surveillance systems proved to be a relevant topic worldwide, encompassing human, animal health and One Health domains. The findings of this work provide valuable perspectives to guide the selection of attributes and assessment methods, and design future evaluations. • Surveillance systems have been evaluated worldwide in the last fifteen years • Surveillance evaluation priorities varied across continents • A wide range of attributes and evaluation frameworks has been identified and analyzed • Evaluation frameworks for animal health surveillance are not widely implemented