Wildlife disease surveillance at global scale needs stronger local networks: Study

A new study lays out a road map for improving global wildlife disease surveillance, after earlier research found nearly 60% of 107 surveyed countries had no functional system in place. The authors, writing through the Wildlife Health Intelligence Network, point to sheep and goat plague driving an 80% decline in Mongolia's saiga antelope and ongoing H5N1 mass mortality in wild birds and marine mammals as evidence of what unmonitored outbreaks can do.

The study's six pathways include shifting views of wildlife away from pure economic liability, securing steady political funding, deploying shared data tools like the HAWK platform, and building frontline workforce skills. Co-author Sarah Olson says the goal is scaling proven regional models like WildHealthNet in Southeast Asia rather than imposing top-down mandates, while acknowledging that most recognized experts in the field are currently concentrated in high-income countries.

The researchers note that existing monitoring remains hampered by funding that appears during a crisis and evaporates once it passes, which is also roughly the lifespan of political attention to the subject.

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