Special Issue "Wildlife Disease Monitoring: Methods and Perspectives"

A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Wildlife".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2021.

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Claudia Romeo
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Veterinary Medicine, Università degli Studi di Milano, v. Celoria 10, 20133 Milano, Italy
Interests: Wildlife Disease Ecology; Epidemiology; Parasitology; Zoology; Wildlife Biology
Dr. Maria Vittoria Mazzamuto
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. School of Natural Resources and Environment, University of Arizona, 1064 E. Lowell Street, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
2. Department of Theoretical and Applied Sciences, University of Insubria, Varese, Italy
Interests: Wildlife Biology; Conservation Biology; Mammals; Biological Invasions; Animal Behavior
Dr. Anna Katarina Schilling
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Previously Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies and Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh, Roslin, Scotland, UK
Interests: conservation medicine; veterinary science; zoonotic diseases; wildlife; animal welfare

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Pathogen spillover from wild species to other wildlife, domestic animals or humans has always been a common natural occurrence, as highlighted by old and new epidemics, such as the medieval plague or the current SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in humans. However, over the last decades anthropogenic changes ‒ e.g. climate change, growing urbanization, biological invasions ‒ appear to have favoured contact among animal species and in turn spillover and disease emergence events, making surveillance and monitoring of wildlife disease circulation even more paramount.

Wildlife biologists, veterinarians and public health professionals dealing with wildlife disease monitoring still face several logistic, methodological and ethical challenges related to field constraints, lack of information about a species’ pathogens, unknown population size or the necessity for non-invasive sampling.

This Special Issue titled “Wildlife Disease monitoring: methods and perspectives” is thus focused on innovative methodologies and approaches that may facilitate wildlife disease research and help overcome its many intrinsic issues.

We welcome novel research as well as insightful reviews and perspectives from all the different specialists involved in this field, either in a public health, ecological research or conservation context. We invite contributions from a wide range of disciplines: from ad-hoc diagnostic techniques, to the optimization of sampling methods and surveillance protocols, on both micro- and macroparasitic diseases of wild animal species.

Dr. Claudia Romeo
Dr. Maria Vittoria Mazzamuto
Dr. Anna Katarina Schilling
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Animals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • wildlife
  • disease surveillance
  • disease monitoring
  • spillover
  • pathogens
  • parasites
  • sampling methods
  • diagnostic techniques
  • zoonoses

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

Article
How to Start Up a National Wildlife Health Surveillance Programme
Animals 2021, 11(9), 2543; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11092543 (registering DOI) - 30 Aug 2021
Viewed by 163
Abstract
Whilst multiple countries in Europe have wildlife health surveillance (WHS) programmes, they vary in scope. In many countries, coordinated general surveillance at a national scale is not conducted and the knowledge of wildlife health status in Europe remains limited. Learning lessons from countries [...] Read more.
Whilst multiple countries in Europe have wildlife health surveillance (WHS) programmes, they vary in scope. In many countries, coordinated general surveillance at a national scale is not conducted and the knowledge of wildlife health status in Europe remains limited. Learning lessons from countries with established systems may help others to effectively implement WHS schemes. In order to facilitate information exchange, the WHS Network of the European Wildlife Disease Association organised a workshop to both collate knowledge and experience from countries that had started or expanded WHS programmes and to translate this information into practical recommendations. Presentations were given by invited representatives of European countries with different WHS levels. Events that led to the start-up and fostered growth spurts of WHS were highlighted, including action plan creation, partnership formation, organisation restructuring and appraisal by external audit. Challenges to programme development, such as a lack of funding, data sharing, infrastructural provision and method harmonisation, were explored. Recommendations to help overcome key challenges were summarised as: understanding and awareness; cross-sectoral scope; national-scale collaboration; harmonisation of methods; government support; academic support; other funding support; staff expertise and capacity; leadership, feedback and engagement; and threat mitigation and wildlife disease management. This resource may enable the development of WHS programmes in Europe and beyond. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wildlife Disease Monitoring: Methods and Perspectives)
Communication
A Serological Survey of Paratuberculosis in the Polish European Bison (Bison bonasus) Population in 2018–2021
Animals 2021, 11(7), 2094; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11072094 - 14 Jul 2021
Viewed by 822
Abstract
The European bison (Bison bonasus) is an endangered species which faces a range of health threats. As little is known of exposure of European bison to paratuberculosis caused by Mycobacterium avium spp. paratuberculosis, known to cause losses in cattle, the [...] Read more.
The European bison (Bison bonasus) is an endangered species which faces a range of health threats. As little is known of exposure of European bison to paratuberculosis caused by Mycobacterium avium spp. paratuberculosis, known to cause losses in cattle, the aim of the present study was to conduct serological survey in Polish bison herds. Between September 2018 and February 2021, blood samples were collected from 165 European bison from different regions of Poland. Samples were taken whenever the animals were immobilized (e.g., putting on telemetry collars) as well as from any dead animal. The serum samples were tested with ELISA. Three individuals, originating from different captive herds, were found to be seropositive. In conclusion, it was found that Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis infections are not currently a problem in European bison, especially in free-range herds. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wildlife Disease Monitoring: Methods and Perspectives)
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