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Wildlife Exotic Disease Preparedness Program

The WEDPP is a joint program involving the Australian Government and state and territory governments that commenced in 1984-85.

WEDPP's mission is 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 are:

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 current and completed projects are provided below.

2009-10

WEDPP projects 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
4	Field Surveillance and Monitoring – Leishmania in the Northern Territory
5	Avian Influenza Surveillance – Bolivar South Australia

2008-09

WEDPP projects 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

WEDPP projects 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 PDF [3mb]
3	Improved Characterisation Of Avian Influenza Subtypes By PCR Word [543kb]
4	Disease Surveillance And Epidemiological Investigations In Australian Fur Seals Word [62kb]
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 Word [983kb] Research on Wildlife Disease Preparedness in Australia - Wendy R Henderson (2008) Word [508kb]

2006-07

2006-07 WEDPP projects
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 Word [2mb]
4	Virological And Molecular Characterisation Of Variant Newcastle Disease Virus In Wild Bird Species With Specific Emphasis On Waders And Ibises

2005-06

2005-06 WEDPP projects
Project Number	Project
1	The Zoological Parks Board of NSW - Australian Wildlife Health Network AWHN OIE Report 2005 - Summary PDF [76kb] AWHN Annual Report 2007-08 PDF [3mb]
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 [397kb]
6	Application of Rapid Diagnostic Tests to Detect Exotic West Nile Antibodies and Virus During Surveillance of Wild Birds, Mosquito Populations and Sentinel Flocks Word [122kb]
7	Surveillance for Avian Influenza Viruses in Tasmanian Wild Bird Populations
8	Cross-Jurisdictional Model for Targeted Surveillance of Wild Bird Species PDF [272kb]
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

2004-05 WEDPP projects
Project Number	Project
1	Feasibility of Delivering Oral Liquid Vaccines or Contraceptives to Feral Pigs Summary Report PDF [14kb] Related Paper Cowled, B., Lapidge, S., Smith, M. & L. Staples. Vaccination of feral pigs (Sus scrofa) using iophenoxic acid as a simulated vaccine. Aust Vet J 2008; 86(1&2): 50-55
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 (4WEDPP04) PDF [502kb]
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 [543kb]
	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 [209kb] AWHN OIE Report 2004 - Summary PDF [160kb]

2003-04

2003-04 WEDPP projects
Project Number	Project
3	A Novel Molecular-Ecology Approach to Ascertaining Emigration/Immigration and Potential Disease Spread in Feral Pigs Summary Report PDF [18kb] 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 PDF 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 PDF [19kb] Related Papers 1. Rose K. Cutaneous leishmaniasis in red kangaroos Aust Vet J 2004; 82(7): 440 PDF 2. Rose K., Curtis J., Bladwin T. et al. Cutaneous leishmaniasis in red kangaroos: isolation and characterisation of the causative organisms Int J Parasitol 2004; 34(6): 655-664
9a	AWHN - Incorporation of GIS Mapping Software in the National Wildlife Surveillance Database PDF [39kb]
9b	AWHN - Targeted Surveillance Activities PDF [46kb]
10	Workshop Addressing Decision Support Tools and the Management of Feral Pigs in an Emergency Animal Disease Event PDF [39kb]
12	Workshop to Review Policies Associated with Avian Influenza Virus PDF [39kb]

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Last reviewed: 02 Feb 2010

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