Wildlife Exotic Disease Preparedness Program
Opinions included in the material appearing on this website do not necessarily represent those of the Wildlife Exotic Disease Preparedness Program, the Department or the Australian Government.
The Wildlife Exotic Disease Preparedness Program (WEDPP) was a joint program involving the Australian Government and state and territory governments that commenced in 1984-85 and ended in 2014.
WEDPP's mission was to improve Australia's emergency animal disease preparedness through the development of strategies to monitor, prevent, control or eradicate emergency diseases in wildlife and feral animals that threaten Australia's livestock industries.
In recent years more emphasis has been placed on improving wildlife surveillance, and for Australia to gain a better knowledge of potential pathogens in the general environment.
The specific objectives of WEDPP were:
- To enhance and refine technologies for the surveillance, containment and control of wildlife in order to improve Australia's animal disease preparedness capability.
- To develop a national cadre of competent personnel to perform wildlife disease control roles in an emergency animal disease incident; and promote the integration of animal health and wildlife personnel and activities for better animal health outcomes.
- To assist with the development of Australia's animal disease preparedness with an emphasis on developing wildlife strategies and procedures for AUSVETPLAN.
The program has been instrumental in generating awareness of the potential role of wildlife and feral animals in the spread of exotic diseases. The program has also facilitated the development of control and eradication payments.
Information about projects is provided below.
Note: Reports published on this page may not meet Australian Government accessibility requirements as they have not been prepared by the department. To obtain an accessible version please contact the document's author.
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2012-13
| Project Number | Project |
|---|---|
| 1 | Core Funding for the Australian Wildlife Health Network – New South Wales |
| 2 | Preparing for rabies: incursion pathways among free–ranging and domestic dogs – New South Wales |
| 3 | A biogeographic and ecological approach to wildlife health surveillance in Sahul – New South Wales |
| 4 | Social analysis of the Australian Wildlife Health Network Digest readership between populations – New South Wales |
2011-12
| Project Number | Project |
|---|---|
| 1 | Core Funding for the Australian Wildlife Health Network – New South Wales |
| 2 | Mapping Hendra Virus (HeV) distribution and diversity – Queensland PDF  [278 KB, 1 page]Mapping Hendra Virus (HeV) distribution and diversity – Queensland DOC  Word [63 KB, 1 page] |
| 3 | Avian migration and movement of pathogens in the Australo-Papuan context: Developing novel methods for the accurate assessment of relevant connectivity between populations – New South Wales DOC [34 KB, 3 pages] |
| 4 |
Evaluation of a real time Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) to simultaneously detect and differentiate virulent and non-virulent Newcastle Disease Virus (NDV) – Victoria PDF |
2010-11
| Project Number | Project |
|---|---|
| 1 | Taronga Conservation Society Australia - Australian Wildlife Health Network Core |
| 2 | Identifying and Mapping Hendra virus |
| 3 |
Final report On Newcastle Disease Viruses in Wild Bird Species and Poultry PDF
Final report On Newcastle Disease Viruses in Wild Bird Species and Poultry DOC |
| 4 | Avian Migration and Movement pathogens in the Australo-Papuan context |
| 5 | Reserviors of Infection: The Epidemiological Characteristics of an Emerging Pathogen |
2009-10
| Project Number | Project |
|---|---|
| 1 | Taronga Conservation Society Australia - Australian Wildlife Health Network Core |
| 2 | Identifying and Mapping Hendra virus |
| 3 | Development and Validation - Newcastle Disease DOC [709 KB, 35 pages] |
| 4 | Field Surveillance and Monitoring – Leishmania in the Northern Territory |
| 5 | Avian Influenza Viruses in Migratory Shorebirds and Nomadic Water Fowl in South Australia |
2008-09
| Project Number | Project |
|---|---|
| 1 | Northern Connections – Movements Of Birds Between Australia and Near Northern Neighbours |
| 2 | The Zoological Parks Board Of NSW - Australian Wildlife Health Network |
| 3 | Maintenance of a Coronavirus in a Population of Australian Bats |
| 4 | Feral Animals as Hosts of Exotic Disease |
| 5 | Destroy and Let Lie Disposal Project |
| 6 | Improving the Relevance and Efficiency of Wild Bird Surveillance for Avian Influenza |
| 7 | Identifying and Mapping Hendra Virus Strain Diversity |
2007-08
| Project Number | Project |
|---|---|
| 1 | Northern Connections – Movements Of Birds Between Australia And Near Northern Neighbours (No final report available) |
| 2 | The Zoological Parks Board Of NSW - Australian Wildlife Health Network |
| 3 | Improved Characterisation Of Avian Influenza Subtypes By PCR DOC [543 KB, 10 pages] |
| 4 | Disease Surveillance And Epidemiological Investigations In Australian Fur Seals DOC [62 KB, 5 pages] |
| 6 | Field Study On The Prevalence Of Different Rabbit Caliciviruses In South Eastern Australia (No final report provided) |
| 8 | Training Course In Exotic Animal Disease Preparedness For Free-Ranging Wildlife And Feral Animal Personnel (No final report provided) |
| 9 | Review Of Wildlife Exotic Disease Preparedness In Australia – Workshop Proceedings, April 2008 DOC
Research on Wildlife Disease Preparedness in Australia - Wendy R Henderson (2008) DOC |
2006-07
| Project Number | Project |
|---|---|
| 1 | Northern Connections – Movements Of Birds Between Australia And Near Northern Neighbours |
| 2 | The Zoological Parks Board Of NSW - Australian Wildlife Health Network |
| 3 | Determination Of Optimal Sampling And Transport Conditions For Enhanced Detection Of Avian Influenza And Newcastle Disease Viruses DOC [2 MB, 19 pages] |
| 4 | Virological And Molecular Characterisation Of Variant Newcastle Disease Virus In Wild Bird Species With Specific Emphasis On Waders And Ibises |
2005-06
| Project Number | Project |
|---|---|
| 1 | The Zoological Parks Board of NSW - Australian Wildlife Health Network
AWHNOIE Report 2005 |
| 2 | The Genetic Structure of Austro-Indonesian Waterbird Populations |
| 3 | Development of Cyanide Bait for Rapid Disease Sampling and Surveillance of Wild Animals |
| 4 | Application of Rapid Diagnostic Tests in the Targeted Surveillance of Avian Influenza Virus within Victorian Wild Bird Populations Application of rapid diagnostic tests in the targeted surveillance of Avian Influenza Virus within Victorian wild bird populations -
Final Report 2006 PDF |
| 6 | Application of Rapid Diagnostic Tests to Detect Exotic West Nile Antibodies and Virus During Surveillance of Wild Birds, Mosquito Populations and Sentinel Flocks DOC [122 KB 5 pages] |
| 7 | Surveillance for Avian Influenza Viruses in Tasmanian Wild Bird Populations |
| 8 | Cross-Jurisdictional Model for Targeted Surveillance of Wild Bird Species PDF [272 KB, 25 pages] |
| 9 | Detecting Avian Influenza in Wild Birds in New South Wales |
| 10 | Avian influenza surveillance in Victorian wild birds and at-risk domestic poultry |
| 11 | Avian Influenza Surveillance in Wild Waterfowl in South Australia |
2004-05
| Project Number | Project |
|---|---|
| 1 | Feasibility of Delivering Oral Liquid Vaccines or Contraceptives to Feral Pigs
Related Paper |
| 3 | Preliminary Investigations for Measuring Animal Contact Rates |
| 4 | Development of Rapid Molecular Surveillance Tools for the Detection of Avian Influenza Within Victorian Wild Bird Populations
Final Report - August 2005 PDF (4WEDPP04)
|
| 6 | The Feasibility of Targeting Surveillance for Avian Influenza in Wild Birds
Targeting surveillance for avian influenza in wild birds: a pilot investigation in New South Wales: Tracey 2005 PDF |
| Pathogenicity of H5N1 Strain of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Virus in Australian Native Ducks | |
Australian Wildlife Health Network
Milestone Review Report of the
AWHN PDF |
2003-04
| Project Number | Project |
|---|---|
| 3 | A Novel Molecular-Ecology Approach to Ascertaining Emigration/Immigration and Potential Disease Spread in Feral Pigs Related Papers 1. Spencer P., Lapidge S.Hampton J. & J. Pluske The sociogenetic structure of a controlled feral pig population Wildlife Research 2005; 32: 297-304 2. Hampton J., Spencer P., Alpers, D. et al. Molecular techniques, wildlife management and the importance of genetic population structure and dispersal : a case study with feral pigs J Appl Ecology 2004; 41 (4): 735-743 3. Spencer P., Hampton J., Lapidge S. et al An assessment of the genetic diversity and structure within and among populations of wild pigs (Sus scrofa) from Australia and Papua New Guinea. Journal of Genetics 2006; 85(1): 63-66 |
| 5 | Distribution and Abundance of Pest Animals in the Rangelands of Western Australia |
| 6 | Determining the Species of Leishmania Associated with Cutaneous Leishmaniasis in Red Kangaroo (Macropus Rufus) in the Northern Territory Summary Report Related Papers 1. Rose K.
Cutaneous leishmaniasis in red kangaroos Aust Vet J 2004; 82(7): 440 |
| 9a | AWHN - Incorporation of GIS Mapping Software in the National Wildlife Surveillance Database |
| 9b | AWHN - Targeted Surveillance Activities |
| 10 | Workshop Addressing Decision Support Tools and the Management of Feral Pigs in an Emergency Animal Disease Event |
| 12 | Workshop to Review Policies Associated with Avian Influenza Virus |
If you have any problems with the links on this page please contact the OCVO.