Challenges and Opportunities for Wildlife Disease Surveillance in Sri Lanka

Nihal, Pushpakumara Don Bamunusinghage; Dangolla, Ashoka; Hettiarachchi, Ranjani; Abeynayake, P.; Stephen, Craig

doi:10.7589/2019-07-181

Cited by 8 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 11 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Furthermore, implementing these types of schemes is essential for a country considered a "hotspot" for the appearance or emergence of new infectious agents; however, we encountered some obstacles when performing this study [ 11 , 13 ]. These obstacles are mainly related to lack of legislation for data collection, willingness to cooperate between agencies, financial disincentives and logistical problems for the storage and transport of carcasses, and difficulties similar to those described by some authors [ 66 , 67 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Passive epidemiological surveillance in wildlife in Costa Rica identifies pathogens of zoonotic and conservation importance

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Epidemiological surveillance systems for pathogens in wild species have been proposed as a preventive measure for epidemic events. These systems can minimize the detrimental effects of an outbreak, but most importantly, passive surveillance systems are the best adapted to countries with limited resources. Therefore, this research aimed to evaluate the technical and infrastructural feasibility of establishing this type of scheme in Costa Rica by implementing a pilot program targeting the detection of pathogens of zoonotic and conservation importance in wildlife. Between 2018 and 2020, 85 carcasses of free-ranging vertebrates were admitted for post-mortem and microbiology analysis. However, we encountered obstacles mainly related to the initial identification of cases and limited local logistics capacity. Nevertheless, this epidemiological surveillance scheme allowed us to estimate the general state of health of the country’s wildlife by establishing the causes of death according to pathological findings. For instance, 60% (51/85) of the deaths were not directly associated with an infectious agent. Though in 37.6% (32/85) of these cases an infectious agent associated or not with disease was detected. In 27.1% (23/85) of the cases, death was directly related to infectious agents. Furthermore, 12.9% (11/85), the cause of death was not determined. Likewise, this wildlife health monitoring program allowed the detection of relevant pathogens such as Canine Distemper Virus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Angiostrongylus spp., Baylisascaris spp., among others. Our research demonstrated that this passive surveillance scheme is cost-effective and feasible in countries with limited resources. This passive surveillance can be adapted to the infrastructure dedicated to monitoring diseases in productive animals according to the scope and objectives of monitoring wildlife specific to each region. The information generated from the experience of the initial establishment of a WHMP is critical to meeting the challenges involved in developing this type of scheme in regions with limited resources and established as hotspots for emerging infectious diseases.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Passive epidemiological surveillance in wildlife in Costa Rica identifies pathogens of zoonotic and conservation importance

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…However, some authors have established obstacles to implementing this type of system. These obstacles are mainly related to bureaucratic restrictions, financial disincentives, lack of legislation for data collection, and willingness to cooperate between agencies [69,70]. We encounter during this research those same obstacles for implementing surveillance systems in wildlife animals in Costa Rica.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Passive epidemiological surveillance in wildlife in Costa Rica identifies pathogens of zoonotic and conservation importance

Alfaro-Alarcón

Aguilar

Solorzono

et al. 2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Epidemiological surveillance systems for pathogens in wild species have been proposed as a preventive measure for epidemic events. These systems can minimize the detrimental effects of an outbreak, but most importantly, passive surveillance systems are the best adapted to countries with limited resources. Therefore, the present study aims to evaluate the technical and infrastructural feasibility to establish this type of scheme in Costa Rica targeting thedetection of pathogens of zoonotic and conservation importance in wildlife. Between 2018 and 2020, 85 carcasses of free-ranging vertebrates were admitted for post mortem analysis and complementary laboratory analysis, representing a solid basis for the implementation of a passive surveillance system for wildlife diseases in the country. However, we encounter during this research significant constraints that affected the availability of carcasses for analysis, mainly related to the initial identification of cases, detection biases towards events in populated- or easily accessible-areas with nearby located wildlife management centers, further associated with financial disincentives, and limited local logistics capacity. Thus resulting in the exclusion of some geographic regions of the country. This epidemiological surveillance scheme allowed us to estimate the general state of health of the country’s wildlife, establishing the cause of death of the analyzed animals as follows: (i) 46 (54.1%) traumatic events, (ii) 23 (27.1%) infectious agents, (iii) two (2.4%) degenerative illness, (iv) three (3.5%) presumably poisoning, and (v) in 11 (12.9%)undetermined. It also allowed the detection of pathogens such as, canine distemper virus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Toxoplasma gondii, Trypanosoma spp., Angiostrongylus spp., Dirofilaria spp., Baylisascaris spp., among others. As well as recognizing the circulation of these pathogens around national territory and also on those analyzed species. This strategy is crucial in geographical regions defined as critical for the appearance of diseases due to their great biodiversity and social conditions.

show abstract

“…An online survey in English and Thai was generated using Microsoft Forms (Microsoft, Richmond, Washington; see Supporting Information List S1). The survey contained a mixture of eight multiple choice, three ranking, four 5-point Likert scale, and six free response questions that collected demographic information and information on the current use, value, efficiency, and effectiveness of WDS as part of a One Health surveillance system in Thailand [ [19] , [20] , [21] ]. The following governmental organizations/health sectors (henceforth referred to as “sectors”) were defined: public health, wildlife health, marine animal health, livestock/domestic animal health, zoo animal health, and environmental/ecosystem health.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Clarification and follow-up questions were asked as necessary, and all interviewees were given the opportunity to add any comments that they felt were not addressed in the interview questions. At the conclusion of the interview, interviewees were presented with a list of potential impediments related to WDS categorized into four classes (physical resources; human resources; administrative and legal issues; other) and asked to rank from each category the top three most difficult impediments faced in their health sector (List S2) [ 20 , 21 ].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stakeholder attitudes and perspectives on wildlife disease surveillance as a component of a One Health approach in Thailand

et al. 2023

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Challenges and Opportunities for Wildlife Disease Surveillance in Sri Lanka

Cited by 8 publications

References 11 publications

Passive epidemiological surveillance in wildlife in Costa Rica identifies pathogens of zoonotic and conservation importance

Passive epidemiological surveillance in wildlife in Costa Rica identifies pathogens of zoonotic and conservation importance

Passive epidemiological surveillance in wildlife in Costa Rica identifies pathogens of zoonotic and conservation importance

Stakeholder attitudes and perspectives on wildlife disease surveillance as a component of a One Health approach in Thailand

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About