Wildlife Disease Association

COVID-19 Data

Wildlife trade pandemics and the law: Fighting this year’s pandemic with last year’s laws

A report from Legal Atlas, Eco Health and George Mason University
This report takes a critical look at what have nations already done with their laws that support the monitoring and prevention of disease emergence that comes from wildlife? In particular, it examines how ten different areas of law respond to this need and provides a summary of the legal challenges and the many opportunities for immediate action. Find the report HERE.

For information concerning specific recommendations / guidelines for the prevention of or surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 in wildlife species please check out our COVID-19 Resources HERE.

Recent News & Announcements

Morris Animal Foundation Announces Call for Wildlife Grant Proposals

Morris Animal Foundation is now accepting proposals for Established Investigator, First Award, Fellowship Training and Pilot Study grants on topics relevant to animal health in coastal wetland ecosystems.

Proposals for the FY22 Wildlife RFP should advance our knowledge and understanding of the health and overall welfare (physical, behavioral and emotional) of animals residing in coastal wetland ecosystems.

Proposals are due Monday, October 4, 2021, by 4:59 p.m. ET.

For more information click HERE.

Survey on Adverse Events Associated with Euthanasia of Non-Domestic Animals

Please participate in a research study through NC State University evaluating the frequency of complications or adverse events associated with euthanasia of non-domestic animals (zoo, exotic, aquatic, wildlife, etc.).

You are included as a candidate for this survey if you are a veterinarian in the United States whose practice includes treating non-domestic animals. The voluntary survey will take 5-10 minutes depending on the number of cases you submit and will ask you to reflect on and report complications you have encountered or witnessed while euthanizing non-domestic animals which may be emotionally triggering. You can submit up to 10 cases if you have them, and you can skip any question in the survey.

To participate in this research survey and to give consent for your participation, please visit this link to open the form and survey in REDCap:

https://csc-rc.cvm.ncsu.edu/surveys/?s=XYKWPP7DX3

This survey link is a generic link and is not traceable or identifiable as to who all accesses it, but to maintain greater confidentiality please only click this link when you are in a private location such as your home, on a private internet connection, and with your browser in private/incognito mode.

The survey results will only be presented or published as aggregated compiled data with no directly identifying information on each case being linked together. This study has been approved by NCSU’s IRB (#23988).

If you have any questions regarding your participation or this survey, please do not hesitate to contact us at cmheppsk@ncsu.edu, tara_harrison@ncsu.edu, or 919-513-7350.

Who is WDA?

We are researchers, practitioners and educators! Please watch our video to learn more about us!

WDA Updates

Mark your Calendars! WDA will host a virtual week 30 August – 5, September 2020

Dear WDA colleagues,

COVID19 has sadly forced us to postpone our International Conference in Cuenca until 2021. However, I am certain you will all agree that in these last months more than ever before wildlife has been discussed here, there and everywhere! The topics of wildlife health, diseases and the links between wild animals, livestock and humans have made it to the media front pages, and forced many of us to put extra hours of work no matter where we are located.

I would argue it is therefore more than appropriate for our association to get together and take a short pause to discuss among other things, on what is happening in the different sections of our association, and how we can as a group continue to be a reference and a valued contributor to promote wildlife health across the globe.

With the help of technology, I would like to invite you all to join us for a virtual WDA week at the beginning of September. During this week, we are planning to host several events:

1. Our WDA Council meeting - the meeting will be held in two 3-hour blocks, Monday august 31st, and Tuesday September 1st both starting at 16:00 EDT (UCT/GMT - 4 hours).

2. WDA annual business meeting - the meeting will be held Thursday, September 3rd at 9 am EDT (UTC-4 hours). Not only will we discuss what is happening in WDA (some exciting news), but we will announce the winners of our two most prestigious awards, the Ed Adison Distinguished Service Award and the joint AAWV and WDA, Tom Thorne and Beth Williams Memorial Award.

3. Wildlife health across the world – each of our sections has been challenged to organize a 1hr session where they will bring 2 invited lecturers to present topics relevant to the respective section. These meetings will be open to all no matter where you are located and can be a short yet “teasing” chance to hear on what is keeping you colleagues across the globe so busy!

A calendar has been made to help you locate the different meetings and the times they take place. Please refer to the time zones columns to identify the correct time for you. Some may mean a late evening or a very early rise, but I have no doubts it will be worth it! The calendar can be accessed HERE.

These meetings will be hosted as ZOOM webinar and we will provide all with the links closer to the dates. More info on each “Wildlife health across the world” session will also be on our webpage in the coming days/week.

I look forward to meeting as many of you as possible during this week!

With my best regards,

Carlos das Neves

WDA President

69th Annual WDA / 14th Biennial EWDA Joint Virtual Conference

Registration closes August 15th!
Don’t miss out!

REGISTER NOW at https://cuenca2020.com/site/login/mobile/#!

WDA Continues to Support One Health

For more than 60 years Wildlife Disease Association has published what is now called One Health research, facilitated One Health solutions to wildlife conservation challenges, and promoted One Health education.

For over 30 years WDA's One Health mission has been to "acquire, disseminate, and apply knowledge of the health and diseases of wild animals in relation to their biology, conservation and ecology including interactions with humans and domestic animals”.

Most recently WDA's slogan says it all:
“WDA is all wildlife diseases, all conservation, all one health, all the time!"