"In 2003, we woke up one morning and found out we had monkey-pox, West Nile virus and SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) in the United States, three diseases which had never existed here before," says Lonnie King, dean of the college of veterinary medicine at Michigan State University in East Lansing and chair of the panel that wrote the report, "Animal Health at the Crossroads."

"Three-quarters of the new human emerging disease in the past two to three decades have been animal-borne."

And the future probably will contain more such outbreaks, given the increasing encroachment of humans into wildlife habitats, the globalization of food and agricultural production, changing climate patterns, the threat of bioterrorism and tens of thousands of planes and ships carrying potential infection in every direction, the report says.

To deal with the threat, the United States needs a "high-level, authoritative mechanism" to coordinate the private, local state and federal agencies that deal with animal-borne illnesses, the report says.

One recommendation is for the Agriculture Department and the Homeland Security Department to work together to support the rapid development of tests and tools to detect, diagnose and prevent animal-borne diseases.

This would require that the U.S. animal health laboratory network be expanded and that federal agencies begin working to jointly finance research programs on zoonotic, or animal-to-human, disease, the report says.

Equally troubling is that as these problems have grown, the numbers of veterinarians, veterinary pathologists and researchers to deal with them are shrinking, says the second report, "Critical Needs for Research in Veterinary Science."

To try to curb the lack of qualified veterinarians, the USDA's Animal Plant Health Inspection Service, which monitors animal health in the United States, already has begun several programs to encourage veterinarians to work in the field of zoonotic disease and public health.