Animal experts are calling for better health surveillance of wild species to help stop the spread of diseases. Vets and scientists from around Europe are meeting in Edinburgh to discuss the challenges of gathering health information from animals in the wild.

Monitoring the health of animals living freely in the wild is crucial for managing infections that can pass into domestic animal and human populations, they said.

In July, experts from the Universities of Warwick and Cambridge mapped the spread of bovine TB in England for the first time. The team, who mapped the disease's progress over the last fifteen years, said their findings suggested that, although cattle play the greater part in transmission of bTB, an environmental reservoir (including infected pastures, wildlife and other animals) is also a potential vector. They added that a lack of data meant that the different parts at play in the 'environmental reservoir' could not be separated and commented upon.   

This week, the experts meeting at the European Wildlife Disease Association Conference, hosted by The University of Edinburgh, said their work could also prove important for conserving threatened species and maintaining wildlife diversity.

Many infectious diseases that affect people have a natural reservoir in animal populations. The Ebola virus, which is currently in the headlines after the recent outbreak in West Africa, originates in wild fruit bats.

Researchers meeting in the Scottish capital will discuss new strategies to monitor and manage disease outbreaks in wildlife to safeguard the health of people and farm animals. They will also review new diseases that are emerging in the wild. These include an emerging bacterial infection similar to leprosy that is affecting endangered populations of red squirrels in Scotland.

Professor Anna Meredith, of the Royal School of Veterinary Studies, commented, "Most infectious diseases that affect people originate in animals, both wild and farmed. Understanding how these diseases spread in wild animals is vital."