Headlines about rabies, Ebola, hantavirus, and avian influenza continue to remind us that wildlife diseases not only affect wildlife, but can also affect people, our pets, and our livestock. This is why the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) has just launched a new five-year Wildlife Health Strategy (2026–2030). The strategy sets out an ambitious vision: healthy wildlife, resilient ecosystems, and a safer planet.
Founded in 1924 in response to a devastating outbreak of rinderpest, WOAH now brings together more than 180 countries to develop international standards for animal health. Those standards help countries manage disease risks and support the safe trade of animals and animal products. Canada has been a WOAH Member since 1959.
The new strategy builds on WOAH’s Wildlife Health Framework (2021–2025) and aims to empower WOAH, its Members, and health networks to better protect wildlife health. In practical terms, the strategy focuses on three priorities:
- strengthening wildlife health governance,
- improving decision making through science and risk analysis, and
- building integrated, multisectoral wildlife health surveillance systems.
Canada is already well positioned to contribute. Canada has spent decades building a collaborative wildlife health system that brings together federal, provincial and territorial governments, Indigenous partners, universities, wildlife rehabilitation organizations, and public health and conservation agencies. This network already reflects many of the priorities identified in WOAH’s new strategy, including a One Health approach, integrated surveillance, scientific risk assessment, and collaboration across sectors. Canada also has extensive experience responding to wildlife disease events, sharing information nationally and internationally, and translating science into practical management decisions. As countries work toward implementing the new strategy, Canada can contribute not only technical expertise, but also practical examples of how collaborative wildlife health systems can operate across jurisdictions and disciplines.
The Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative (CWHC) is an important component of this network. As Canada’s National Wildlife Focal Point, we are the official point of contact with WOAH on wildlife matters. In this role, we coordinate a national network of wildlife health experts, report wildlife disease events through WOAH’s international reporting systems, and help connect Canadian expertise with global initiatives. CWHC also holds a distinction few organizations in the world can claim: it became WOAH’s first Collaborating Centre dedicated specifically to wildlife health in 2007. Today, the Collaborating Centre is jointly operated by the CWHC, the USGS National Wildlife Health Center, and the Wildlife Conservation Society. The CWHC also serves as the inaugural chair of the WOAH Coordination Group for Wildlife Health in the Americas, supporting the identification of regional priorities and the implementation of wildlife health activities across the region. As WOAH implements its new strategy, CWHC will help Canada continue contributing to international standards, surveillance, capacity building, and scientific collaboration.
The challenges facing wildlife health are growing, driven by climate change, biodiversity loss, changing land use, and increasing interactions among wildlife, people, and domestic animals. No single country can address these challenges alone. WOAH’s Wildlife Health Strategy provides a shared roadmap for international collaboration. By continuing to invest in strong partnerships, science-based surveillance, and the sharing of knowledge across jurisdictions, Canada and the CWHC can help ensure healthier wildlife populations, more resilient ecosystems, and a safer future for both animals and people.
Written by: Damien Joly