IUCN-OIE Manual of Procedures for Wildlife Disease Risk Analysis

Disease plays an important role in the natural environment, serving as a regulator of the genetic fitness of wildlife through selective pressure in evolutionary processes. Conversely, it has been shown that the loss of certain microorganisms and parasites can be detrimental to the healthy functioning of ecosystems and species alike. Unfortunately, human-induced changes in our environment caused by habitat destruction or modification, industrial and urban development, population growth and global movement of people and animals have fundamentally changed the way disease affects not only wildlife but also entire ecosystems. These changes require a way of looking at disease that considers the biological, political and economic value of wildlife and the consequences of biodiversity loss. A process known as disease risk analysis (DRA) has been adopted by IUCN and other organisations to analyse and manage the possible outcomes of situations involving disease.

This Manual of Procedures for Wildlife Disease Risk Analysis (this ‘Manual’) builds on a large body of work on DRA in particular that of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), and extends this to apply existing methodologies to the issues concerned with biodiversity conservation.

This publication is available for free electronic download on the IUCN SSC website:
English: https://portals.iucn.org/library/node/43386
Spanish: https://portals.iucn.org/library/node/46376
Print copies are also available on the OIE Bookstore website at: http://web.oie.int/boutique/index.php