New Wildlife Detection Surveillance System Could Track Emerging Threats in Near Real-Time

Wildlife rehabilitation is an essential activity to care for orphaned, injured, or sick wild animals to release them back into their natural habitats. With the help of professionals, anyone could take part in this vital process in preserving natural wildlife.

They face various threats and illnesses in which some of these diseases make their way to humans and domestic animals. Scientists at the University of California, Davis, School of Veterinary Medicine, and partners from wildlife rehabilitation organizations have created a new detection surveillance system that tracks patterns of illness in near real-time using the data from these organizations across California.

The study, titled "Early detection of wildlife morbidity and mortality through an event-based surveillance system," published in the journal  Proceedings of the Royal Society B, described in detail the Wildlife Morbidity and Mortality Event Alert System. Researchers hope that this new detection surveillance system will help in a timely wildlife rehabilitation effort so there will be less harm to wildlife.

How Does it Work?

Wildlife rehabilitation workers are the front liners who are the first to receive and tend to sick and injured wild animals. They carry a wealth of wildlife rehabilitation information that can indicate broader patterns.

But until now, this information was stored primarily on paper or isolated computer files. In 2012, the free online tool called Wildlife Rehabilitation Medical Database (WRMD) was created and was used by over 950 rehabilitation organizations across the US and 19 countries to monitor wildlife care.

Now, the new Wildlife Morbidity and Mortality Event Alert System is a pre-diagnostic system that alerts agencies to unusual patterns that may need further investigation to determine specific health threats on wild animals. The scientists analyzed 220,000 case records from 2013 to 2018 to establish thresholds for triggering these alerts.

According to Phys.org, the system detected several key events and large admissions of marine birds along central and southern California in late spring of 2016, in which post-mortem investigation showed that they were starving.

Additionally, the system confirmed that the marine birds that died in April 2017 were caused by domoic acid toxicity. Also, the system detected that invasive Eurasian collared doves in 2016 died due to a virus that was first detected in California.

The system detected more patterns of illnesses and deaths of wildlife. It has been instrumental in determining the geographic range and severity of emerging threats to wild animals.

ALSO, READ: More Dead Deers Found in British Columbia as Fatal Disease-Causing Blood Vessel Impairment Spreads

The Connection Between Wildlife and Human Health

The scientists noted that being able to monitor and rapidly detect patterns of illnesses and deaths among wild animals is important for all species, even to humans, according to the news release of UC Davis.

For instance, identifying domoic acid contamination caused by harmful algal blooms that increase coastal and freshwater systems could help prevent or reduce threats to wildlife and human health. Another example of the novel alert system's use is preventing the West Nile virus from coming into contact with domestic animals and people.

Co-leading author Pranav Pandit of UC Davis said that the alert system is an inexpensive and efficient tool that could be used for wildlife surveillance efforts. It uses machine learning algorithms, natural language processing, and statistical methods to classify cases and establish thresholds for alerts.

"The wildlife rehabilitation organizations' data is making such valuable contributions," Pandit said in a statement. "That's all coming together in this highly adaptable surveillance system."

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