Development of a European wildlife disease network

Objective:

To develop a European network for wildlife health surveillance in which harmonised methods are adopted for:

1. estimating abundance of key hosts (population size, density)
2. diagnosing key pathogens in key hosts (sampling strategies, storage/archiving, diagnostic techniques)

Sub-objective: to involve European countries/networks/partners beyond APHAEA

• in the development of harmonised methods
• in the wildlife health surveillance network

Milestones and Deliverables:

1. Identify stakeholders, organizations and experts to be contacted (for a+b)

• August/September 2012 : Establish a list of participants (=network partners)

2. Review of published and unpublished methods by APHAEA project team for established list of hosts and pathogens:

• Template for abundance estimation (® WP1)
• EWDA Diagnosis Cards (® WP2)

• December 2012: Consultation of network partners

3. Adaptation of review documents considering participants’ feedbacks

• May 2013: Final, approved review versions available on the APHAEA website

4. Proposal for harmonised procedures

• August/September 2013: Harmonisation concept sent to network partners for review (assessment form):
  
  • Realistic methods for local applications?
  • Limitations?
  • Suggestions?

• October 2013: 1^st Consultation workshop ® detailed presentation of protocols, discussion and general agreement
• February 2014: Approved harmonised protocols available on the APHAEA website

5. Validation of endorsed protocols through application (® WP3)
   
   1. Estimating abundance of selected key hosts in selected countries
   2. Cross-sectional studies on selected key pathogens in selected countries

• March 2015: 2^nd Consultation workshop ® presentation of WP3 results (incl. feasibility, reliability and acceptance of proposed harmonised protocols); needs for adaptations vs. protocol approval; further steps (European network)
• May 2015: Workshop proceeding available on the APHAEA website