What are the disease risks in wildlife trade?
In late 2023, WOAH invited the Collaborating Centre for Risk Analysis & Modelling to contribute to a new guidance document assessing disease risks in wildlife trade.
Wildlife trade has long been used for both commercial and subsistence purposes, using animals in various forms. These animals and animal products provide food, medicine, clothing, and other products, as well as having cultural and religious value. However, wildlife trade can also have a detrimental effect on factors such as species conservation, biodiversity, and degradation of ecosystems, as well as providing opportunity for spread or emergence of zoonotic pathogens with serious public and animal health consequences.
Although guidance is available for assessing risks in domestic trade settings, there are several considerations specific to wildlife trade that were not covered by the existing documentation. The additional commodity specific considerations, such as conservation listings for the species in question, complexity of physical settings where trade occurs (e.g complex markets), variation in source (e.g., wild-sourced versus ranched), and challenges around traceability of some species and products are covered in the new documentation.
The were published online on the WOAH website in May 2024. They provide a framework to support those undertaking risk analysis of a wildlife trade system, and to help users determine appropriate risk reduction measures for the system they are assessing. This covers four main areas:
- Engagement with stakeholders and system mapping
- Risk analysis
- Monitoring and evaluation
- Tools and guidance
Each section provides an overview of the activities to undertake, as well as case studies to provide worked examples demonstrating a use case.
It was a privilege to be asked by WOAH to contribute to these guidelines, which we hope will be used by many WOAH member countries to identify, assess and mitigate risks related to the trade of wildlife.