Today, wildlife health surveillance is an essential part of a comprehensive national health system. Over the last 20 years, the number of cases to be investigated at the FIWI has increased significantly, but at the same time there is the problem that, especially in the case of externally recognisable diseases such as mange or chamois blindness, not all death/disease cases are recorded in the surveillance statistics and the available overview of the disease situation at a national level is incomplete.
This project aims to analyse the current situation in order to propose a solution to improve the current wildlife health surveillance system. The aim is to review possibilities to reduce the diagnostic effort at FIWI while improving disease surveillance in free-living wild mammals and birds in Switzerland.
The instructing party for this project is the Federal Office of Environment (FOEN) together with the Federal Office for Food Safety and Veterinary Office (FSVO). The project is further accompanied by a group (SurWild Begleitgruppe) consisting of representatives of the FIWI, the two federal offices involved, as well as representatives of the cantonal hunting and veterinary authorities.
Contact: Elisabeth Heiderich, Marie-Pierre Ryser
