HOW SHOULD WE PREPARE FOR EMERGING DISEASES IN AUSTRALIAN WILDLIFE?
Many diseases emerging in wildlife on other continents are not currently considered significant locally, in part reflecting Australia’s geographical isolation and unique faunal assemblage.
Some pathogens have never been detected in Australia despite the presence of suitable hosts (e.g. chronic wasting disease of cervids, whitenose syndrome in bats). Several diseases of economic importance have been deliberately eradicated and freedom from disease is supported by robust border biosecurity (e.g. bovine tuberculosis). The necessary vectors or environmental conditions may be absent from Australia and some agents are unlikely to host-shift into our taxonomically dissimilar native hosts. Until we fully understand the complex and often interdependent reasons for emergence of an infectious disease globally, it will be difficult to determine the risk that such global EIDs might play in the Australian context. Nevertheless, global emergence of wildlife disease can be used to highlight and predict possible pathogens of importance to Australia and should be used to guide risk assessment and surveillance activities (e.g. white-nose syndrome, rabies and marine mammal morbilliviruses) (Duignan et al. 2014; Van Bressem et al. 2014; Sparkes et al. 2015; Holz et al. 2016).Wherever possible, the anthropogenic impacts of pathogen emergence should be minimised. All human-wildlife interactions, including translocations, research, rehabilitation and release, should be managed appropriately to reduce the chance of introducing or spreading infectious disease, and handling and biosecurity should be such to minimise all disease risk (Jakob-Hoff et al. 2014; Wildlife Health Australia 2018).
Surveillance has been recognised as the key to early detection and management of emerging diseases and the need to monitor free-ranging wildlife populations is increasingly recognised both in Australia and globally (Kruse et al. 2004; Jones et al.
2008; Sleeman et al. 2012; Cox-Witton et al. 2014). Australia’s general wildlife health surveillance system has been developed to enhance the capacity for early detection of emerging diseases in free- ranging wildlife populations (Wildlife Health Australia 2023) (see Chapter 1).In order to best protect our unique fauna and our communities from emerging disease threats, we need to build on existing processes for wildlife disease surveillance and response. Scientific risk assessment, drawing on global experiences of emerging disease, should be used to prioritise pathogens, hosts and environments for investigation (Prowse et al. 2009). In addition to considering zoonotic pathogens and those likely to threaten domestic stock or trade relations, greater attention should be paid to those pathogens where the risks are restricted to wildlife alone (Tompkins et al. 2015).
Despite the inherent difficulties in conducting effective wildlife disease surveillance (Stallknecht 2007; Slee- man et al. 2012), the ability to recognise and detect EIDs will increase with improved baseline information, greater research and surveillance efforts, development of new technological tools and more sophisticated modelling and analysis. Modern investigative techniques, in particular molecular diagnostics and increased understanding of the host’s immunological processes, will continue to greatly enhance our ability to understand pathogen dynamics, origin and spillover occurrences (Firth and Lipkin 2013). Improved understanding will allow for more targeted management and intervention strategies to reduce the potential impact of emerging diseases on human and domestic animal health, wildlife health and biodiversity.