Citizen Science and Wildlife Disease Surveillance

Area of Science:

• Wildlife health
• Ecology
• Public health

Background:

• Effective wildlife disease surveillance is crucial but often resource-limited.
• Citizen science (CS) offers a cost-effective solution for expanding surveillance efforts.
• Public reporting of wildlife health incidents is vital for timely detection.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the scope, benefits, and considerations of CS in wildlife disease surveillance.
• To highlight the value of public participation in monitoring wildlife health.
• To explore the potential of CS for different surveillance strategies.

Main Methods:

• Review of existing CS wildlife disease surveillance schemes.
• Analysis of CS contributions to targeted, scanning, and syndromic surveillance.
• Examination of opportunistic versus systematic CS observation methods.

Main Results:

• CS enables large-scale, cost-effective wildlife disease surveillance across time and space.
• Digital media has revolutionized reporting and feedback mechanisms in CS.
• CS schemes provide benefits for scientists, the public, and wildlife health.

Conclusions:

• Citizen science is a valuable, multidisciplinary approach to wildlife health surveillance.
• Public engagement through CS significantly enhances disease monitoring capabilities.
• CS facilitates early detection and awareness of wildlife disease events.