Presentation
Wildlife Response in the Face of Pandemics and Panzootics
SessionWildlife - Case Studies
DescriptionWhile spill responders have been facing the challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, oiled wildlife responders around the world have been grappling with an additional threat in the form of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI). Since 2020, HPAI has made a slow, but devastating march across much of the planet, wiping out millions of birds and threatening many vulnerable populations. The scale of this wild bird mortality event is unprecedented for our time. Rescuing and rehabilitating oil-affected wildlife, often including large numbers of birds, after an oil spill has long been accepted as a moral and legal imperative in many parts of the world. With the threat of HPAI, the already complex task of rescue and rehabilitation becomes an intricate balancing act of providing best-achievable care while preventing infectious disease spread among both humans and animals involved in the response. Legal mandates and public opinion surrounding oil-affected wildlife care will not be swayed by the added complications of COVID-19 and HPAI, so wildlife responders must adapt to meet the challenges presented by these novel threats.
Biosecurity has never been a more critical component of disaster response. The consequences of an outbreak of COVID-19 among human spill responders parallel the implications of HPAI spreading through oil-affected wildlife patients. COVID-19 and HPAI mitigation strategies bear some convenient similarities, but also some frustrating contrasts. Confronting the challenges of these concurrent highly contagious diseases has been a major focus of the Oiled Wildlife Care Network (OWCN), a program within the Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center at the University of California, Davis. This presentation will highlight the OWCN’s strategies for managing oiled wildlife response during pandemic and panzootic times.
Biosecurity has never been a more critical component of disaster response. The consequences of an outbreak of COVID-19 among human spill responders parallel the implications of HPAI spreading through oil-affected wildlife patients. COVID-19 and HPAI mitigation strategies bear some convenient similarities, but also some frustrating contrasts. Confronting the challenges of these concurrent highly contagious diseases has been a major focus of the Oiled Wildlife Care Network (OWCN), a program within the Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center at the University of California, Davis. This presentation will highlight the OWCN’s strategies for managing oiled wildlife response during pandemic and panzootic times.
Authors
Event Type
Paper
TimeWednesday, May 15th11:00am - 11:20am CDT
Location278-280
Remediation
Response