Evaluation of country preparedness for Nipah and avian influenza zoonotic viral threats in Bangladesh

Nipah and avian influenza viruses (NiV and AIV) are priority zoonotic pathogens in Bangladesh and are also important globally because of their pandemic potential. To understand current strengths, areas for improvement, and opportunities to enhance preparedness for NiV and AIV in Bangladesh, as part of the USAID STOP Spillover program, 47 relevant stakeholders were surveyed, and two country leads of the primary surveillance systems were interviewed. Data was collected focusing on four different areas: research projects, surveillance systems, laboratories, and outbreak risk management systems. Despite progress in recent years, our study reveals significant gaps in preparedness, detection, and response capacities across sectors and highlights the importance of prioritizing extended and targeted surveillance, biosafety solutions for laboratories, and early event detection for resilient defenses against these viruses using a One Health framework.