Assessing Coherence in Global HPAI Governance: From Fragmented Response to Coordinated System Improvement

This paper provides a global assessment of the degree of real-world coherence in current Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) governance across jurisdictions, species, and sectors. While scientific understanding, surveillance capacity, and technical tools have advanced substantially worldwide, outcomes remain uneven. This analysis examines why such gaps persist internationally and where meaningful coherence has emerged in practice across different national and regional contexts. Using a coordination-first analytical lens aligned with Community Network Integration (CNI), Universal Quality Management System (UQMS) principles, and Inevitability by Design (IbD), the paper evaluates HPAI governance as a global systems challenge rather than a technical deficit. International standards, country-level initiatives, and recent multi-species spillover events from multiple regions are examined to identify strengths, limitations, and transferable lessons relevant across governance environments. The analysis is enabled by CORIN-Atlas™, a global, relational evidence and coordination database developed under the Collaborative Outbreak Response Integrative Network (CORIN). CORIN-Atlas integrates peer-reviewed literature, international standards, surveillance summaries, governance analyses, and pilot-scale learnings from multiple jurisdictions to support structured analysis, shared understanding, and solution design in complex, multi-actor systems. HPAI is treated as a priority global test case within a broader suite of coordination-intensive challenges spanning agrifood systems, public health, economic development linked to health outcomes, and a wide array of other issues where outcomes depend on effective cross-sector alignment at national and international levels. The paper does not propose regulatory reform, assign blame, or advocate specific technical interventions. Instead, it identifies a neutral coordination layer capable of improving coherence, accountability, and system learning across existing mandates worldwide. Published on Zenodo to support global system learning and constructive engagement, this work is intended for regulators, industry participants, researchers, funders, and coordinating organizations seeking practical, evidence-grounded approaches to improving governance coherence in complex systems across diverse regions and contexts.