Title
A wildlife mortality monitoring network that promotes human and wildlife health
Author(s)
Keatts, Lucy; Ondzie, Alain; Perrin, Magali; Cournarie, Morgane; Olson, Sarah H.
Published
2023
Publisher
One Health Cases
Abstract
Known for its considerable human mortality rate, Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) requires swift outbreak detection. It is similarly deadly for great apes. During an outbreak of Ebola in the Republic of Congo in 2005, the human mortality rate was over 80% and an estimated 5000 great apes died. In partnership with the government, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) worked with hunters, forest communities, and rangers to set up an early warning system for EVD by monitoring wildlife health. The system monitors and samples wildlife carcasses through a network of thousands of hunters covering more than 30,000 sq. km in northern Congo, where 60% of the world’s gorillas live, and promotes best practices in risk reduction for communities reliant on bushmeat for protein. Setting up the system involved three stages – establishing a wildlife mortality reporting network by building trust with communities, encouraging hunters to report observations and engaging necessary stakeholders; building capacity for rapid and safe carcass sampling in response to reports; and developing rapid diagnostics and reporting of results back to communities in conjunction with reinforcing awareness of health risks of eating carcasses. Staff were trained across the remote region in safe sampling techniques, and capacity developed for ebolavirus testing in-country, reducing time-to-results from weeks to minutes thanks to carcass-side testing with a Biomeme portable unit. This network monitors and protects the health of both wildlife and humans, particularly vital in a region with limited resources and accessibility to healthcare and where communities are reliant on bushmeat for protein.
Keywords
ebola virus disease; Republic of Congo; wildlife monitoring; network; communities
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PUB36206