Core activity #02

Wildlife Disease Surveillance as a Component of a One Health System in Thailand

In January 2022, the survey project “Wildlife Disease Surveillance as a Component of a One Health System in Thailand” was developed. The project’s objectives aimed to understand better how wildlife disease surveillance systems are used in daily work and which sectors may benefit from wildlife disease surveillance as part of a One Health system in Thailand. The questionnaire, which was approved by the Institutional Review Board, Mahidol University, and interviews were used for data collection.

For the online survey, the questionnaire was distributed to 183 persons from the partners, including the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP), Ministry of Agricultural and Cooperatives, Department of Livestock Development, Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR), Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Zoological Park Organization of Thailand under the Royal Patronage (ZPOT), Ministry of Public Health Department of Disease Control, faculties of veterinary medicine/science across Thailand, and Thailand-NWHC/MoZWE. The sections included Basic demographic information, benefits of wildlife disease surveillance in the context of One Health, and ease of communication between One Health sectors.

For the in-person meeting, three marine sector professionals, six local DNP professionals, two central DNP professionals, and one university professional were interviewed. Interviewees were asked to comment on the value of wildlife disease surveillance (WDS) in their workplace and across Thailand, their motivation for participating in WDS programs, and the application of One Health to such programs. The interviewees’ understanding of collaborations with governmental, non-governmental, and international partners in WDS and awareness of governmental policies, joint programs, or educational/training opportunities relating to One Health was assessed. Perceived challenges to implementing One Health and WDS programs and ideas about the support needed to address such challenges were discussed. The interviewees were asked for potential impediments related to WDS categorized into four classes (physical resources; human resources; administrative and legal issues; and other) and asked to rank from each category their top three most difficult impediments faced in their health sector. The information indicates that communication with other health professionals in the marine and environmental sectors should be improved.

The survey results indicated the Wildlife disease surveillance (WDS) in Thailand as follows:

  1. The most beneficial outcomes of WDS include
    • Disease control
    • Early threat detection
    • Identification of zoonotic diseases
    • Trust among sectors
  2. The most challenging issues of WDS include
    • Accessing data collected by one’s sector
    • Having the legal authority to conduct WDS
  3. The highest priority areas for improvement to WDS include
    • Allocation of human resource
    • Adequate budget
    • Having a clear communication system between sectors.

Finally, the result of the interview was eventually published in the journal ‘One Health’ entitled Stakeholder Attitudes and Perspectives on Wildlife Disease Surveillance as a Component of a One Health Approach in Thailand.