Spain coordinates APHAEA through IREC (www.uclm.es/irec) and collaborating researchers from Universidad Complutense and INIA. IREC is the leading Spanish research institute on wildlife diseases. The Wildlife Disease Department works on all aspects of wildlife epidemiology and disease control. This Department includes specialists in epidemiology and ecology, specifically including census methods and GIS applications. IREC has significant expertise in wild boar and red fox, and in viral diseases of swine, tuberculosis and parasitic and vector-borne diseases. IREC collaborates closely with the Ministry of Agriculture, regional governments and agencies in wildlife disease surveillance, including the recently approved Spanish Wildlife Disease Surveillance Plan. IREC also coordinates the RIEC network (Red de Investigación en Enfermedades Compartidas) on diseases shared with wildlife. Collaborating researchers from INIA have wide experience adapting sampling methods and diagnostic techniques for a broad range of pathogens affecting wildlife, especially those zoonotic ones related with synanthropic birds (pigeons and passerines).

Contact: christian.gortazar [a] uclm.es