Performing Department
Veterinary Population Medicine
Non Technical Summary
Wildlife is recognized as a key component of ecosystem health, a term encompassing the integration of human, domestic animal, wild animal and environmental health. Wild animals play a key role in emerging infectious disease in humans by serving as reservoirs for pathogens such as avian influenza and West Nile virus. The increased significance of zoonotic disease is most commonly associated with more frequent interfaces between humans and animals. Livestock and poultry are also vulnerable to the effects of infectious disease transmission by wildlife due to economic losses from disease outbreaks and the imposition of severe trade restrictions. Current examples of interest in Minnesota include bovine tuberculosis in deer and Newcastle disease in cormorants. Wildlife can serve as sentinels. The proverbial canary in the coalmine phrase refers to the potential to identify health threats in wildlife populations and forecast a need for action to preserve human health. Wildlife may also serve as biosecurity indicators. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, five of the six Category A bioterrorism threats identified are zoonotic pathogens which may be found in wildlife, spread by wildlife, or may show up first in wild species. While there are systems in place for monitoring disease in humans and some domestic animals, there is currently no comprehensive, integrated strategy for monitoring wildlife health issues in the United States. Many federal and state agencies address pieces of the issue and public-private partnerships have developed surveillance programs for specific diseases such as avian influenza and West Nile virus. There is, however, no general monitoring and no real-time alert systems. While the need for such as monitoring system has been identified, there are also challenges to creating such a system. Specimen collection is currently limited to pro-active trapping of animals or convenience sampling from hunter-killed animals; however, one potential untapped source is animals treated at wildlife rehabilitation centers. Critically, there is also a lack of electronically collected data in real-time. What is needed is an integrated system for gathering, collecting, compiling, analyzing and acting upon wildlife health information in a timely manner. Through workshops and meetings bringing together experts in wildlife disease, epidemiology, risk assessment, information management and data platform technology, the outcome of this grant will be a roadmap defining resource needs, process and goals of creating an integrated system for wildlife health information.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
Specific aim: To perform a feasibility assessment and develop a strategy to create an integrated, multi-data stream information resource for monitoring wildlife for emerging issues related to human, animal, and environment health. The long-term goal is to develop the capability to provide an early indication and warning of adverse health events for humans and livestock through the collection, analysis, interpretation and dissemination of information related to wildlife health issues.
Project Methods
Approach: 1. Establish a steering committee of diverse expertise to guide project development. 2. Define 3 wildlife disease scenarios representing health threats with human or livestock impacts. Potential scenarios might include illness from an environmental toxin (ex: heavy metal toxicity such as lead or mercury), an emerging zoonotic disease (ex: West Nile virus), or spillover disease impacting livestock (ex: Newcastle disease/paramyxovirus). 3. Host a scoping workshop using wildlife disease scenarios to: a)Identify types of data that would support identification of issue and risk assessment, allow for warnings, and support decision making response, b)Define info sources and identify gaps, 4. Assess data sources for availability, credibility, and accuracy. 5. Host a research meeting to create a process map of capability from data collection through dissemination of warning. 6. Create strategy to include timeline, budget, and additional stakeholders to develop capability. 7. Develop a white paper/proposal.