Table 9. List of criteria most frequently identified by the public and professional focus groups.

Focus group	Criteria	Themes	Human, animal or pathogen/disease	Frequency
Public	Severity of illness in humans+	Burden of illness	Human	3
Public	Treatment and prevention in humans+	Control measures	Human	3
Public	High-risk groups in humans+	Disease epidemiology	Human	3
Public	Socioeconomic burden of the disease in humans+	Socioeconomic impact	Human	3
Public	Mode of transmission+	Disease epidemiology	Pathogen	3
Public	Mortality characteristics in humans	Burden of illness	Human	3
Public	Geographic distribution of the disease	International considerations	Pathogen/disease	3
Public	Speed of disease spread in individuals (incubation period)*	Disease epidemiology	Human	3
Public	Speed of transmission between humans*	Disease epidemiology	Human	3
Public	Visual cues to avoid the disease in humans*	Control measures	Human	3
Professional	Severity of illness in humans+	Burden of illness	Human	3
Professional	Treatment and prevention in humans+	Control measures	Human	3
Professional	High-risk groups in humans+	Disease epidemiology	Human	3
Professional	Socioeconomic burden of the disease in humans+	Socioeconomic impact	Human	3
Professional	Mode of transmission+	Disease epidemiology	Pathogen	3
Professional	Severity of illness in animals	Burden of illness	Animal	3
Professional	Disease trend	Disease epidemiology	Disease	3
Professional	Potential for human-to-human transmission	Disease epidemiology	Human	3
Professional	Socioeconomic burden of the disease on the industry	Socioeconomic impact	Animal	3
Professional	Public perception*	Public concerns	Human	3
Professional	Potential for human-to-animal transmission*	Disease epidemiology	Animal	3

⁺Shared criterion identified by all six focus groups.

*Unique criterion identified only by either the public or professional groups.

Criteria are not listed in any particular order. All listed criteria were identified by all three public or professional focus groups.