Brace for the wave: planning for and responding to marine disease emergencies

Marine diseases are increasing globally, posing significant threats to both marine and human populations. Establishing ecosystem health baselines, detecting emerging diseases in marine wildlife and responding in time to manage an outbreak require a plan to be in place before a disease emergency unfolds. This enables monitoring and response networks to immediately begin to identify the etiologic agent, track disease progression, assess the ecological or economic risks, and prioritize the most appropriate and effective management strategies. Here, we present a marine disease outbreak contingency plan where a suspected infectious disease has caused a sudden increase in mortality of a generic marine wildlife host species, and much of the plan is also relevant for non-pathogenic mortality events and protected or economically valuable host species. The contingency plan has three sections: Diagnostics and Disease Dynamics, Ecology and Environment, and Mitigation and Remediation. Each section describes major goals and action items at different phases of an outbreak and highlights actions taken during the sea star wasting disease outbreak as a case study in disease response. We recommend strategies for increasing the overall preparedness for disease emergencies. Given our collective dependence on coastal ocean resources and the expected increase in marine disease outbreaks with climate change, we emphasize the importance of infrastructure and a network of human communities to address disease emergencies. This article is part of the theme issue 'Managing infectious marine diseases in wild populations'.