PERSPECTIVE emphasize primary care and care for the underserved, and while certainly important, this shift in priorities has been at the expense of encouraging biomedical research careers. Veterinary schools have shifted their focus from com- parative medicine research and livestock medicine to com- panion animal medicine to meet societal demand (32). However, similar to the situation with medical schools, this shift has caused fewer numbers of veterinary students to pursue research careers. In addition, comparative medi- cine programs have been shifting from a research to serv- ice orientation that limits veterinarians’ research involvement to being primarily caretakers for laboratory animals (32). This shift in comparative medicine orientation has dis- couraged many veterinary students from pursuing careers in research and hinders research on emerging zoonoses from diverse animal hosts. What can be done? Although NIH has begun a roadmap to improve biomedical research into the 21st century, nowhere does the plan mention comparative medicine and the importance of veterinary involvement, which would certainly fit into its goals of promoting interdisciplinary research and new pathways to discovery (33). An NAS report recognizes the need for the roadmap initiative to address this issue and recommends creating integrated vet- erinary research through joint interagency collaborative programs at NIH (34). One way to achieve this would be to offer jointly spon- sored comparative medicine research grants from both the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). With NIAID’s emphasis on zoonoses and cross- species investigations, comparative medicine research would fit in well with its mission of research on bioterror- ist agents, emerging infectious diseases, and immunology. The NCRR and NIAID could offer research grants to med- ical and veterinary medical research teams that are promot- ing collaborative projects on zoonoses. A second NAS report addressing this issue recom- mends that federal agencies involved in human and animal research coordinate their efforts. Jointly funded integrated and comprehensive animal health research programs should be established to ensure that veterinary and medical scientists work together as collaborators domestically and internationally (13). Encouraging more veterinary school graduates to pur- sue careers in research is critical if partnerships are to be developed. A third NAS report recommends that the num- ber of veterinarians serving as principal investigators should increase (29). This could be accomplished by increasing the number of NCRR-funded T32 training grants and making them available to persons who want to enter research training programs immediately after gradu- ation from veterinary school (29). Finally, another way to encourage more veterinary students to pursue research careers would be for the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) to offer research training pro- grams to them analogous to those offered to medical stu- dents. Currently, NIGMS research training programs are only open to holders of MD and PhD degrees (35). Discussion Since zoonoses are diseases of animals that can infect humans, veterinarians, physicians, and public health offi- cials need to work more closely together to control, pre- vent, and understand them. In the individual health setting, collaborative input from both veterinarians and physicians would help assess a patient’s potential zoonotic disease risks from animal exposure. For high-risk immunocompro- mised patients, these collaborative efforts could be tremen- dously important, not only for their personal well-being but also for their livelihoods. Regarding population health, reporting of animal dis- eases varies considerably from state to state. Some states have 1 agency responsible for all animal disease reporting while others split the reports between various agencies. However, in many states, animal disease surveillance appears to be largely a state level function. In few states, local public health agencies are expected to receive zoonotic disease reports directly from veterinarians. If controlling zoonotic diseases is to be improved, greater communication and collaboration between veterinarians, physicians, and public health officials at the local level are needed. One NAS report recommends a federal level mechanism to promote greater collaboration among all the players involved in animal health (13); similar mecha- nisms could also be considered in states. Joint disease surveillance efforts, which are proving to be extremely useful in the tracking of zoonoses, include ArboNet for WNV surveillance, the National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System for enteric bacteria surveillance, and FoodNet for the population- based surveillance of foodborne pathogens (36,37). These programs should continue to be supported, and new sur- veillance programs for other serious zoonoses should be developed. Medical, veterinary, and public health schools should offer courses on zoonotic risks to human health that integrate all 3 perspectives. Society would benefit if more collaborative compara- tive medicine research projects were conducted by physi- cians and veterinarians to investigate zoonotic agent-host interactions. Among the many ways to promote these proj- ects are multiagency-sponsored comparative medicine research grants and more training grants for veterinarians interested in careers in research. These efforts would increase our understanding of how zoonoses expand their 560 Emerging Infectious Diseases • www.cdc.gov/eid • Vol. 12, No. 4, April 2006