WAHIS-Wild and its interface: The OIE worldwide monitoring system for wild animal diseases

Abstract

Wild animal diseases are a global growing concern, given the threat that they pose to animal health and their zoonotic potential. The World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) was among the first organisations to recognise the importance of having a comprehensive knowledge of the disease situation in wild animals, collecting information on wildlife diseases worldwide since 1993, when for the first time an annual questionnaire was distribute by OIE to members Countries in order to collect qualitative and quantitative data on selected diseases in wild animals. Starting with 2008 until 2012 an updated version of questionnaire was circulated to allow for identifying wildlife species by their Latin name and by their common names in the 3 OIE official languages (English, French, and Spanish). This specific functionality was then implemented in the World Animal Health Information System (WAHIS) in 2012, when this information was made available to the public through WAHIS-Wild Interface.

Full text

91
Keywords
Animal diseases,
Biodiversity,
Disease early warning,
Disease monitoring
system,
Infectious diseases,
Non-infectious diseases,
OIE,
Transparency,
WAHIS-Wild Interface,
Wild animals,
Wild animal diseases,
Wildlife,
World Organisation for
Animal Health,
Zoonosis.
Summary
Wild animal diseases are a global growing concern, given the threat that they pose to
animal health and their zoonotic potential. The World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE)
was among the rst organisations to recognise the importance of having a comprehensive
knowledge of the disease situation in wild animals, collecting information on wildlife
diseases worldwide since 1993, when for the rst time an annual questionnaire was
distribute by OIE to members Countries in order to collect qualitative and quantitative data
on selected diseases in wild animals. Starting with 2008 until 2012 an updated version of
questionnaire was circulated to allow for identifying wildlife species by their Latin name
and by their common names in the 3 OIE ocial languages (English, French, and Spanish).
This specic functionality was then implemented in the World Animal Health Information
System (WAHIS) in 2012, when this information was made available to the public through
WAHIS-Wild Interface.
Veterinaria Italiana 2016, 52 (2), 91-100. doi: 10.12834/VetIt.235.779.3
Accepted: 20.12.2015 | Available on line: 30.06.2016
World Organisation for Animal Health, 12 rue de Prony, 75017 Paris, France
* Corresponding author at: World Animal Health Information & Analysis Department, World Organisation for Animal Health,
12 Rue de Prony, Paris 17, France.
Tel.: +33 1 44 15 18 88, e-mail: m.popovic@oie.int.
Karim Ben Jebara*, Alessandro Ripani, Marija Popovic* & Simona Forcella
WAHIS-Wild and its interface: the OIE worldwide
monitoring system for wild animal diseases
Parole chiave
Allerta rapida malattie,
Animali selvatici,
Biodiversità,
Fauna,
Interfaccia WAHIS-Wild,
Malattie animali,
Malattie degli animali
selvatici,
Malattie infettive,
Malattie non infettive,
OIE,
Organizzazione
Mondiale della Sanità
Animale,
Sistema di monitoraggio
delle malattie,
Trasparenza,
Zoonosi.
Riassunto
Le malattie degli animali selvatici rappresentano un problema crescente a livello
globale data la minaccia che rappresentano per la salute degli animali domestici e il loro
potenziale zoonotico. L'Organizzazione Mondiale della Sanità Animale (OIE) è stata tra le
prime organizzazioni a riconoscere l'importanza di avere una conoscenza completa della
situazione delle malattie negli animali selvatici attraverso la raccolta di informazioni in tutto
il mondo sin dal 1993, quando per la prima volta un questionario annuale è stato distribuito
dall'OIE a tutti i suoi Paesi Membri al ne di raccogliere dati qualitativi e quantitativi
su speciche malattie degli animali selvatici. A partire dal 2008 e no al 2012 è stata
distribuita una versione aggiornata del questionario che ha consentito l'identicazione
delle specie di animali selvatici, colpiti dalle malattie riportate nel questionario, attraverso
il loro nome latino e il loro nome comune nelle tre lingue uciali dell’OIE: l'inglese, il
francese e lo spagnolo. Nel 2012 questa funzionalità è stata inserita nel sistema mondiale
dell’informazione sanitaria animale (WAHIS) rendendola quindi disponibile per la comunità
internazionale attraverso l’interfaccia web WAHIS-Wild.
WAHIS-Wild e la sua interfaccia: il sistema OIE di monitoraggio mondiale
delle malattie degli animali selvatici

92 Veterinaria Italiana 2016, 52 (2), 91-100. doi: 10.12834/VetIt.235.779.3
OIE WAHIS-Wild: monitoring wild animal diseases Ben Jebara et al.
then created and subsequently adopted by the
resolution no. XXXI 2004 (OIE 2004), which came
into force in January 2005 (OIE 2004), referred to
in the chapter on notication and epidemiological
information in the rst version of the International
Animal Health Code, published in 1969 (OIE 1969).
Each new edition of this Code includes the latest
provisions.
Another relevant point that comes across in the
Organic Statutes is the mandatory nature of the
notication of diseases, i.e. any listed disease needs
to be notied to the OIE, in accordance with the
requirements set out either in the Terrestrial Animal
Health Code (Terrestrial Code) or in the Aquatic
Animal Health Code (Aquatic Code), as appropriate
(OIE 2013 a, b).
These diseases therefore have to be notied to the
OIE regardless of the animal species aected. The
only exception concerns a specic Terrestrial Code
chapter on avian inuenza: low pathogenic avian
inuenza, this is a disease that does not meet the
necessary criteria for inclusion on the OIE list, which
nevertheless must be notied to the OIE when it
occurs in poultry but not when it occurs in wild birds.
Availability for information on List A
and B diseases in domestic and wild
animals
Lists A and B of diseases in domestic and wild
animals for the period going between 1996 and
2004, can be consulted on the OIE website1, where it
is made available using the Handistatus II database
interface2. Data prior to 1996 are available in the
archived OIE Bulletins. Since 2005, information on
OIE-listed diseases in domestic and wild animals has
been processed by OIE Member Countries using the
World Animal Health Information System (WAHIS)
and is available online via the World Animal Health
Information Database (WAHID)3 (Ben Jebara et al.
2012). Starting with 2012, WAHID indicates the Latin
name and the common name for each aected
wildlife species rather than the previously used
generic species tag ‘Fauna (Fau)’.
In the present study we focus on the voluntary
notication of a selected list of diseases that are
not mentioned in the OIE’s list. Disseminated
information on those diseases should not impact
the international trade of production animals and
their products.
Today, with the increased global movement of
Historical background
Legal obligation OIE Member Countries
to disease notication
In 1924, the founding members of OIE dened
3main objectives for the organisation: to promote
and co-ordinate scientic research; to provide
Governments with the means to supervise the
enforcement of international agreements; and to
function as an international disease intelligence
node. Collecting animal health data and distributing
it to all OIE Member Countries was therefore
already deemed to be one of the main activities
in 1924. The latter objective reads as follows “The
main objects of the Oce are: […] To collect and
bring to the attention of the Governments or
their sanitary services, all facts and documents of
general interest concerning the spread of epizootic
diseases and the means used to control them […]”
(OIE 1924). To allow the OIE to full this goal, the
Organic Statutes impose the following obligations
on OIE Member Countries: “The Governments shall
forward to the Oce:
1. By telegram, notication of the rst cases of
rinderpest or foot and mouth disease observed
in a country or an area hitherto free from the
infection.
2. At regular intervals, bulletins prepared according
to a model adopted by the Committee, giving
information on the presence and distribution
of the following diseases: Rinderpest, Rabies,
Foot and mouth disease, Glanders, Contagious
pleuropneumonia, Dourine, Anthrax, Swine
fever, Sheep pox. The list of diseases to which
either of the foregoing provisions applies may
be revised by the Committee, subject to the
approval of the Governments.
The Governments shall inform the Oce of the
measures adopted by them to control epizootics,
especially such measures enforced at their own
frontiers to protect their territory against imports
from infected countries. As far as possible they shall
furnish information in reply to inquiries sent to them
by the Oce” (OIE 1924).
Moreover, the OIE Organic Statutes include
provisions that require the OIE to distribute the
information it has collected on animal diseases by
means of the OIE Bulletin or special notications.
These obligations originally pertained to the
diseases indicated above. Subsequently, they were
extended to include diseases on OIE Lists A and B.
Resolution OIE no. XXIII of 2001(OIE 2001) requested
to review the categorisation of animal diseases
and create a single list of diseases (including the
diseases on the former lists A and B). The list was
1
http://www.oie.int/animal-health-in-the-world/oie-listed-
diseases-2016/.
2
http://www.oie.int/animal-health-in-the-world/the-world-animal-
health-information-system/data-before-2005-handistatus/.
3
http://www.oie.int/wahis_2/public/wahid.php/Wahidhome/Home.

93
Veterinaria Italiana 2016, 52 (2), 91-100. doi: 10.12834/VetIt.235.779.3
Ben Jebara et al. OIE WAHIS-Wild: monitoring wild animal diseases
analysing data on wild animals was transferred to
the OIE Animal Health Information Department
(AHID) as a new AHG, the adhoc Group on Wildlife
Disease Notication, decided that the questionnaire
and related data entry and reporting functions
should be implemented in WAHIS (OIE 2008).
The AHID harmonised the data collection following
three strategies:
1. updating the questionnaire for gathering data
on wildlife diseases – from 2008 to 2012;
2. changing the disease names in the questionnaire
to match those listed in WAHIS (i.e., OIE-listed
diseases);
3. incorporating corresponding templates (by
month and by rst administrative division or for
the whole country, or by 6-months and by rst
administrative division or for the whole country)
so that the information collected annually
through the questionnaire would be compatible
with the information collected through the
reports for OIE-listed diseases as in WAHIS.
The updated questionnaire included the possibility
to collect data on wildlife species by both their Latin
and common names. This specic functionality
was then implemented in the ‘wild annual report’
section of the second version of WAHIS in 2012 to
process data on non-OIE listed disease specic to
wild animals.
The 2013 version of the list of diseases specic to wild
animals, for which data is collected on a voluntary
basis, comprises 53 disease headings. These consist
of 48 infectious diseases, 4 non-infectious diseases
(algal toxicosis, botulism, chemical poisons and
mycotoxins). The last heading is used to report
events of undetermined cause that might generate
signicant morbidity and mortality and have an
impact on wild animal populations (Annex 1).
OIE Member Countries have clearly responded
positively to the use of the updated questionnaire,
since the number of these reports submitted to the
OIE has constantly increased since 2008 (Figure 1).
In 2012, the second version of WAHIS was launched.
One of the main innovations is to have incorporated
detailed information on wild animal diseases, not
simply as a replacement for the questionnaire
but as a fully-edged application allowing on-line
notication.
The information provided is constantly veried and
validated by the AHID team and made available
online to the international community through
the newly developed and launched interface: the
WAHIS-Wild Interface4.
people and trade in animals, food and feed, animal
pathogens and diseases may spread worldwide in a
very short time. Owing to the increased speed and
volume of international travel and trade, the entire
world must be constantly on the alert as a disease
that occurs in a given location may rapidly have a
signicant global impact.
It is estimated that about 60% of emerging
infectious diseases are zoonotic, of these about 75%
have been linked with wildlife. Wildlife diseases are
a growing concern at global level, because of both
the threat that they pose for the health of wild and
domestic animal populations and because of the
zoonotic risk that they represent. This is especially
true when one considers that there is an increasing
legal and illegal market in wildlife in the world,
reported to be worth an estimated 6 billion USD
per year (Wildlife conservation society 2005). It is
noteworthy that between 2000 and 2006, in the USA
only about 1.5billion live wild animals were legally
imported into the country and that an average of
over 25million kilograms of non-live wildlife enter
the USA each year (Smith etal. 2012).
Methods
In this context, it is essential for the international
community to have immediate access to reliable
and precise information on the animal disease
situation worldwide in order to mitigate and control
the spread of diseases through trade in domestic
and wild animals.
From 1993 to 2007, the OIE collected information
on an annual basis using a questionnaire le
(hereafter referred to as the ‘questionnaire’)
requesting qualitative and quantitative data on
selected diseases in wild animals. Completed
questionnaires provided by OIE Member Countries
were analysed by an OIE ad hoc Group (AHG) on
Wildlife Diseases that was created in 1993. AHGs
normally function for a limited period of time.
However, given the growing importance of wildlife
in the OIE’s strategy, in 1995 this particular AHG
was upgraded to become a permanent Working
Group on Wildlife Diseases (WGWD).
The AHG listed a group of diseases specic to wild
animals – the ‘wildlife diseases waiting list’ – which
are considered of signicance for wild animals,
domestic animals or humans. A preliminary list was
compiled in 1993, comprising 30 diseases that did
not appear on either list A or list B, but which had
been identied as important because wild animals
were involved in their epidemiology as actual or
potential victims, carriers or disseminators (OIE
1993, OIE 1994).
In 2008, the task of collecting, collating, and 4
http://www.oie.int/wahis_2/public/wahidwild.php.

94 Veterinaria Italiana 2016, 52 (2), 91-100. doi: 10.12834/VetIt.235.779.3
OIE WAHIS-Wild: monitoring wild animal diseases Ben Jebara et al.
To improve reporting by OIE Member Countries, a
new strategy was developed and a new structure
for the questionnaire was introduced, bringing
it into line with the WAHIS 6-monthly reporting
templates. The structure, well known to OIE Focal
Points for animal disease notications and OIE
Delegates, facilitated the use of the questionnaire.
In 2012, the last year in which the questionnaire
was used, 131 Member Countries provided a
completed questionnaire (Figure 1), demonstrating
their willingness to contribute to the database on
non-OIE listed diseases even though it is on a purely
voluntary basis.
In 1993, the questionnaire contained 30 diseases
specic to wild animals; in 2008, the list was upgraded
to include 55 diseases – namely 51 infectious
diseases, 4 non-infectious diseases – as well as the
possibility to add events of unknown origin.
In 2011, the list was reviewed by the WGWD and the
diseases were classied according to the pathogens
and other disease-causing agents in wildlife
(Annex 1). Currently, 53 infectious or non-infectious
diseases aecting wild animals are being monitored
worldwide.
The wild annual report for data
processing of diseases specic to wild
animals, using WAHIS
After the harmonisation of the tool used to collect
information on diseases aecting wild animals, the
next step was to shift from the questionnaire to an
on-line notication system. With the launch of the
second version of WAHIS in 2012, a new section for
the notication of diseases specic to wild animals,
named Wild annual reports was added to the list of
types of reports of the on-line notication system
WAHIS (Figure 2).
WAHIS‑Wild Interface: a new source of
information on wild animal diseases
WAHIS-Wild Interface is a new website developed
for the benet of all stakeholders worldwide as it
oers information and descriptive statistics on wild
animal diseases that do not meet the criteria for
inclusion on the OIE List of Notiable Diseases (OIE
2013). The information presented is based on the
reports provided on a voluntary basis by interested
OIE Member Countries. The system generates and
displays this information with the objective of
improving knowledge about the disease agents
present in wild animals, and their eects on wild
animals themselves, domestic animals, and humans.
Monitoring these agents is therefore of paramount
importance for global biosecurity.
Guidelines for the inclusion of diseases
in the WAHIS‑Wild Interface
Principles were identied according to which
those diseases that did not meet the criteria for
inclusion in the OIE List of Notiable Diseases could
be considered for inclusion in the list of diseases
specic to wild animals. The guiding principles for
such inclusion are relevance to:
• human health, livelihoods, and well-being;
• domestic and wild animals health;
• environmental integrity and ecological
sustainability.
Diseases in wild animals can have serious livestock or
public health implications. They may also adversely
aect conservation of wildlife in native habitats
worldwide and hamper international translocation
initiatives. Before 2008, the year when the AHID
started to manage the questionnaire to collect
information on diseases specic to wild animals,
only 48 OIE Member Countries were providing
completed questionnaires.
Years
Questionnaire
2005
62
65
89 98
131
65
55 48
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Figure 1. Trend in the number of questionnaires received by the OIE
from Members Countries on OIE and non OIE-listed diseases between
2005 and 2012.
Figure 2. Screenshot from the second version of WAHIS launched in
2012 and showing the new section to access the wild annual reports.

95
Veterinaria Italiana 2016, 52 (2), 91-100. doi: 10.12834/VetIt.235.779.3
Ben Jebara et al. OIE WAHIS-Wild: monitoring wild animal diseases
publications and ocially recognised public sources
and eventually, if relevant, are added to the database.
Where Member Countries have been unable to
identify the species, they have the possibility to
report the family name and indicate the species
as ‘incognita’ (from the Latin adjective meaning
‘unknown’ or ‘on which one has no information’).
Since the launch of the second version of WAHIS,
more species have been added by OIE Member
Countries and, after validation, some of them have
been included in the database as new families or
species.
OIE Member Countries have responded positively
to the possibility of improving the quality of
information by indicating the species aected by
a disease. This positive response is demonstrated
by the high number of cases of diseases related to
dierent species reported between 2008 and 2012
(Figures 4, 5, 6).
The current database integrated in WAHIS contains
Latin names, and the corresponding common
names in English, French, and Spanish, as well as
the families to which they belong. The completion
of the database is an on-going process since the
biodiversity of wild animal species worldwide is very
rich and dynamic.
The introduction of this section on the wild annual
reports in 2012 replaced the Excel questionnaire
and countries started using it replacement of the
questionnaire. Yearly update of this questionnaire
will continue since it can be used as a User’s Manual
by Member Countries as well as a template to
collect information from dierent institutions at
the national level and collate it. Also, when the
information is completed, it could be processed in
WAHIS by the OIE Delegates or by OIE National Focal
Points for Wildlife (Annex 2) using the wild annual
report on diseases specic to wild animals in WAHIS
or sent directly to the OIE for processing it.
Data provided by OIE Member Countries to the OIE
in their questionnaires from 2008 to 2012 (before the
launch of the online notication and the creation
of the wild annual report section) were evaluated
to ensure that the data meet the minimum quality
criteria set by OIE and validated reports meeting
those minimal criteria were processed by the OIE in
WAHIS.
Building of a database on wild animal
species, by family, susceptible to specic
diseases/infections
One of the main innovations incorporated into the
questionnaire and subsequently integrated in WAHIS
was the inclusion of a newly constituted database
containing a list of wildlife species, arranged by
Family name and Latin name, susceptible to the
given diseases (Figure 3).
This database was built by collating information
on aected wild animal species mentioned in
questionnaire returns between 2000 and 2008,
which was then complemented and documented by
analysing the literature (Williams etal. 2011, Nancy
etal. 2007, ONCFS 2008). In addition, the database
was enriched with information in English, French,
and Spanish as well as common names from reliable
open web resources)5.
A new functionality has also been developed to
allow OIE Member Countries to add the name of an
aected family and/or species if, while processing
data in WAHIS, they nd that said family and/or
species is not on the drop-down list. The provided
data are then veried and, where relevant, validated
by the AHID on the basis of accredited scientic
Figure 3. Screenshot from WAHIS web application of the form used to
provide quantitative data on outbreak(s) of a given disease or infection
by aected wild animal species.
Reporting year
Number of families Number of species
99 85 87 99 139
288 317
260
332 255
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Figure 4. Number of reported wildlife species and families aected by
diseases between 2008 and 2012 reported to the OIE trough WAHIS.
5
•Avibase. The world birds database 2012. http://avibase.bsc-eoc.org/
avibase.jsp.
 •Oiseaux.net. La Classification 2012. http://www.oiseau.info/
classification.html.
 •Species 2000 & IT IS 2012. Catalogue of Life 2012 Annual Checklists.
http://www.catalogueoflife.org/info_about_col.php.
 •TheIUCNRedListofThreatenedSpecies.http://www.iucnredlist.org.
 •Wildlife conservation society 2005. State of the Wild 2006: A Global
Portrait of Wildlife, Wildlands, and Oceans. Washington, DC: Island Press.

96 Veterinaria Italiana 2016, 52 (2), 91-100. doi: 10.12834/VetIt.235.779.3
OIE WAHIS-Wild: monitoring wild animal diseases Ben Jebara et al.
animal diseases and has expanded the use of
previously collected data.
This interface allows for consultation of the data
through 5 main categories: country, disease,
descriptive statistics, useful links, and upcoming
events. Data can be displayed for a given country
or region, for a given period, and also by aected
species, and it can be displayed in the form of lists,
tables or graphs.
For the rst time, information on diseases specic
to wild animals is available through descriptive
statistics tools. Interested stakeholders can make
their own descriptive analysis of the most frequently
reported diseases and/or infections in wild animals.
This section, divided into 2 subsections, will
enable statistics to be produced on the frequency
of reported diseases and/or infections by region
(Figure 8) or by class (Figure 9).
WAHIS-Wild Interface will serve as a long-term tool
in the worldwide monitoring system for diseases
specic to wild animals. The data available through
this website could serve as an early warning system
In 2013, the database contained 2,058 wild species
belonging to 194 dierent families.
In the newly developed WAHIS-Wild Interface,
information can be displayed according to the
selected families and species, by year or by period
of time.
Results
Outputs of data collected though the
OIE worldwide monitoring system for
wild animal diseases
WAHIS-Wild Interface is publicly accessible to all
interested stakeholders in the OIE’s three ocial
languages: English, Spanish, and French6 (Figure 7).
The interface introduces a new approach to
presenting and analysing data gathered on wild
6
http://www.oie.int/wahis_2/public/wahidwild.php.
Reporting year
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Figure 5. Number of reported wild animal families aected by diseases
between 2008 and 2012 reported to the OIE trough WAHIS.
Reporting year
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Figure 6. Number of reported wild animal species aected by diseases
between 2008 and 2012 reported to the OIE trough WAHIS.
Figure 7. Home page of WAHIS-Wild Interface.
Low pathogenic avian inuenza
The ten most frequently reported diseases/infections
in wild animals in Europe
Number of countries/territories reporting the disease/the infection
Salmonellosis (S. enterica)
Pseudotuberculosis
Pasteurellosis
Chemical poisons
Botulism
Trichomonas sp.
Listeriosis
Sarcoptic mange
Toxoplasmosis
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
Figure 8. An example of descriptive statistics by region.

97
Veterinaria Italiana 2016, 52 (2), 91-100. doi: 10.12834/VetIt.235.779.3
Ben Jebara et al. OIE WAHIS-Wild: monitoring wild animal diseases
surveillance systems, disease early warning and
rapid response in domestic and wild animals, the
OIE has developed appropriate tools, for Delegates
and their national Focal Points to help countries
in achieving these objectives and to disseminate
relevant and diversied animal disease information.
The launch by the OIE of the new WAHIS-Wild
Interface to display information on non OIE-listed
diseases of wild animals will undoubtedly encourage
more countries to implement or strengthen their
surveillance systems for wildlife disease. This will
enable them to produce more information on wild
animal diseases and to share it with the international
community through the OIE Worldwide Monitoring
System for Wild Animal Diseases.
Furthermore, the OIE Evaluation of Performance of
Veterinary Services (OIE PVS Tool) Pathway, with its
Gap Analysis, have proved very eective in helping
Member Countries to strengthen their Veterinary
Services, resulting in better protection of animal
health including for wild animals (OIE 2014).
The reporting of diseases specic to wild animals
through a dedicated section of WAHIS allows OIE
Member Countries to play an active role in promoting
biodiversity, wild animal health, and early warning
of diseases, thereby helping to protect the health of
humans and of domestic animals as well.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank all those who
contributed to the establishment of the OIE
Worldwide Monitoring System for Wild Animal
Diseases, and in particular the Director General of
the OIE, OIE Member Countries for having approved
the recommendations made by the ad hoc Group
for Wild Animal Disease Notication in July 2008,
the sta of the OIE Administration, Logistics and
Publications Department, and more specically the
IT Unit, which helped to develop the application, and,
last but not least, all the team of the Animal Health
Information Department (AHID) and the members
of the OIE Working Group on Wildlife Diseases for
their scientic contribution and for their support
and encouragement for the work of the AHID.
for humans as well as for livestock as they can be
accessed by countries, institutions working on
animal health and public health, and by many other
stakeholders interested in wildlife and biodiversity.
WAHIS-Wild Interface compiles information on
non-OIE-listed diseases aecting wild animals
reported by interested OIE Member Countries on a
purely voluntary basis.
Conclusion
Regular reports concerning the monitoring of the
epidemiological situation at both national and
regional level are also of paramount importance to
reinforce the credibility of the National Veterinary
Services at the international level.
Diseases at the human-animal-environment
interface are constantly emerging and re emerging.
At the same time, given the need for a healthy
wild animal population to ensure biodiversity, all
countries should be committed to improving their
capacity to detect, control, and report diseases
aecting wild animals. In order to strengthen
capacities of its Member Countries in their disease
12.7%
7.9%
7.9%
7.9%
4.8%
14.3%
11.1%
11.1%
11.1%
11.1%
Proportion of ten most frequently diseases/infections
aecting Mammalia in Europe
European brown
hare syndrome (EBHS)
Salmonellosis (S. enterica)
Pseudotuberculosis Pasteurellosis
Pestivirus
Chemical poisons Canine distemper
Listeriosis
Sarcoptic mange Toxoplasmosis
Figure 9. An example of descriptive statistics by class.

98 Veterinaria Italiana 2016, 52 (2), 91-100. doi: 10.12834/VetIt.235.779.3
OIE WAHIS-Wild: monitoring wild animal diseases Ben Jebara et al.
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99
Veterinaria Italiana 2016, 52 (2), 91-100. doi: 10.12834/VetIt.235.779.3
Ben Jebara et al. OIE WAHIS-Wild: monitoring wild animal diseases
Infection with morbillivirus (measles)
Infection with Ovine herpesvirus 2 (causing mali-
gnant catarrhal fever in sheep)
Infection with parvovirus
Infection with Pasteurella spp.
Infection with Plasmodium spp.
Infection with pox viruses (other than those listed
by the OIE)
Infection with Psoroptes spp.
Infection with Salmonella enterica (all serovars)
Infection with Sarcoptes scabiei
Infection with Theileria spp. (new or unusual occur-
rences)
Infection with Toxoplasma gondii
Infection with Trichomonas spp. in birds and reptiles
Infection with Yellow fever virus
Infection with Yersinia enterocolitica
Infection with Yersinia pestis
Infection with Yersinia pseudotuberculosis
Reptiles
Infection with Crocodilepox virus (Papillomatosis in
crocodiles)
Infection with Fibropapillomatosis in sea turtles
(herpesvirus)
Infection with Trichinella nelsoni, T. zimbabwensis
and T. papouae
Non-infectious diseases causing high
mortality in animal population
Algal toxicosis
Botulism
Chemical poisons
Mycotoxins
Diseases of unknown cause
Unusual morbidity or mortality event (cause unde-
termined)
Agent causing Chronic wasting disease (CWD)
Calicivirus Marine Mammals
Calicivirus of European Brown Hare Syndrome
(EBHS)
Infection with Alcelaphine herpesvirus 1 (wildebe-
est origin causing malignant catarrhal fever in
cattle)
Infection with Avian Paramyxoviruses (other than
those listed by the OIE)
Infection with Babesia spp. (new or unusual occur-
rences)
Infection with Baylisascaris procyonis
Infection with Borrelia spp.
Infection with Circoviruses
Infection with Clostridium piliforme (Tyzzer´s Dise-
ase)
Infection with Encephalomyocarditis virus
Infection with Elephant Herpesvirus
Infection with Fasciola gigantica
Infection with Fascioloides magna
Infection with Feline Leukaemia virus (FeLV)
Infection with Filovirus
Infection with Flavivirus (causing Louping ill)
Infection with Flavivirus (causing Tick-borne en-
cephalitis)
Infection with Geomyces destructans in bats (Whi-
te-nose syndrome)
Infection with hantavirus
Infection with Henipaviruses (Hendra viruses)
Infection with Henipaviruses (Nipah viruses) in bats
Infection with Histomonas spp.
Infection with Immunodeciency viruses (Feline,
Simian)
Infection with Leptospira interogans sp.
Infection with Listeria monocytogenes
Infection with Low pathogenic avian inuenza
viruses (all subtypes)
Infection with morbillivirus (canids and felids)
Infection with morbillivirus (marine mammals)
Non‑listed pathogens and other disease‑causing agents in wildlife
Annex 1
Publisher: Istituto Zooprolattico Sperimentale dell'Abruzzo e del Molise ‘G. Caporale’ | Journal: Veterinaria
Italiana | Article Type: Reasearch Article | Volume: 52; Issue: 2; Year: 2016; doi: 10.12834/VetIt.235.779.3

100 Veterinaria Italiana 2016, 52 (2), 91-100. doi: 10.12834/VetIt.235.779.3
OIE WAHIS-Wild: monitoring wild animal diseases Ben Jebara et al.
Terms of reference of OIE National Focal Points for Wildlife
During the 76th General Session of the World Assembly of Delegates in May 2008 the importance
of the focal point for information on animal diseases was re-iterated and Delegates were also
requested to nominate additional focal points for wildlife, veterinary products, animal production
food safety, animal welfare and aquatic animal diseases.
As detailed in the Final Report of the General Session, the responsibilities of the focal points are
under the authority of the OIE Delegate. Any information transmitted to the OIE from the dierent
focal points needs to be transmitted under the designated authority of the OIE Delegate. This
practice would equally apply, if focal points are located in other Departments or Ministries not
under the jurisdiction of the Veterinary Authority, as from a legal perspective the OIE considers
the ocial OIE Delegate to be the unique representative of the country.
Details on proposed tasks of the national focal point for wildlife:
1. to establish a network of wildlife experts within his/her country or to communicate with the
existing network;
2. to establish and maintain a dialogue with the Competent Authority for wildlife in his/her
country, and to facilitate cooperation and communication among several authorities where
responsibility is shared;
3. under the authority of the OIE Delegate of his/her country, to support the optimal collection
of wildlife disease information and its submission to the OIE through WAHIS (immediate
notications and follow-up reports, six-monthly reports, and annual questionnaires) to
enable the OIE Delegate to more eciently manage his/her OIE Member obligations;
4. to act as a contact point with the OIE Animal Health Information Department and Scientic
and Technical Department on matters related to information on wildlife, including wildlife
diseases;
5. to receive from the OIE Headquarters copies of the reports of the Working Group on Wildlife
Diseases, selected reports of the Scientic Commission for Animal Diseases and other
relevant reports, should they address discussion points on wildlife or the livestock-wildlife
interface, and conduct the in-country consultation process with recognised wildlife and
animal health experts on draft texts of standards proposed in those reports as well as draft
standards proposed by the Terrestrial Animal Health Standards Commission when dealing
with wildlife diseases; and
6. to prepare comments for the Delegate on each of the relevant meeting reports reecting
the scientic view and position of the individual OIE Member and/or the region, including
comments on the proposals for new OIE standards and guidelines related to wildlife.
Annex 2
Publisher: Istituto Zooprolattico Sperimentale dell'Abruzzo e del Molise ‘G. Caporale’ | Journal: Veterinaria
Italiana | Article Type: Reasearch Article | Volume: 52; Issue: 2; Year: 2016; doi: 10.12834/VetIt.235.779.3