2. Public health issues related to zoonoses in wildlife and farmed game

Abstract

Wildlife veterinarians are crucial for the protection of public, environmental and animal health as well as for food safety. In addition, meat from farmed game and wildlife is a high quality protein source, produced with less environmental impact and will be a part of future food security. In a ‘One Health’ context not only food safety, but also the early warning through the monitoring and surveillance of emerging biological or chemical hazards will be tasks for game veterinarians. The early warning enables proactive risk management as game animals are sentinels for emerging public, animal and environmental health threats. It is therefore imperative that all the information from monitoring and surveillance of wildlife and farmed game is analysed and put into a holistic and global context. It is important that the diagnostic capabilities, resources for necropsies, but also the information gathering and analysis are coordinated both locally and globally. Examples of hot spots and/or major drivers for emerging diseases are the domestication of species and anthropogenic changes of habitats. One important source of information on the presence of public, environmental and animal health risks both present and emerging, is the meat inspection of game animals (both farmed and wild) to assure the fitness for human consumption. In conclusion, the role of the wildlife veterinarian is and will remain to be vital in terms of one health/one medicine, as well as for assuring future food security. The principal change (and indeed a paradigm shift) is to go from the current one point meat inspection system based on individual animal inspection to an integrated food safety assurance system. To achieve this, the risk mitigation including meat inspection will have to be adaptive and risk based. Prevalence targets for game farms and on carcases before chilling could be helpful tools.