One-size does not fit all: Insights from a novel outbreak of Mycobacterium bovis in Northern England

The control of tuberculosis is an ongoing issue worldwide. A new study by Rossi and colleagues shows how genomic surveillance and a deep knowledge of the micro-scale landscape can provide invaluable insights on the effective control policies to tackle this issue. How do novel pathogen problems emerge? Have local conditions changed, making an outbreak more likely? How did the outbreak originate, and what will the … Continue reading One-size does not fit all: Insights from a novel outbreak of Mycobacterium bovis in Northern England

Editor’s Choice 56:10 – How to conduct citizen science that works

Our October Editor’s Choice looks at the value citizen science brings to monitoring programmes and how to ensure that value doesn’t go to waste. Associate Editor, Yolanda F. Wiersma, discusses the selected article, Balancing sampling intensity against spatial coverage for a community science monitoring programme. Citizen science (also termed ‘community science’), the involvement of non-credentialed scientists (‘ordinary citizens’) in a scientific research project, has a … Continue reading Editor’s Choice 56:10 – How to conduct citizen science that works

Cover stories: wildlife disease surveillance

The March 2019 cover image shows an ailing chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) monitored by Gombe Ecosystem Health researchers in Gombe National Park in the months before his death. Here we also see a female chimpanzee monitored by the Gombe Ecosystem Health Research team demonstrating signs of respiratory illness characterized by rhinorrhea. Photos by Kara Walker and Christopher Walker. The corresponding article, Optimizing syndromic health surveillance in free … Continue reading Cover stories: wildlife disease surveillance

GPS and satellite tags as surveillance devices to detect animal deaths – including the illegal killing of protected species

Fabrizio Sergio explains how the development of biologging tools can help protect some of our most vulnerable species.  Detecting animal casualties is often a major goal for wildlife biologists and managers. Conservationists may need to know which mortality agents are driving the decline of an endangered species, while game managers may want to estimate mortality causes as precisely as possible in order to plan sustainable … Continue reading GPS and satellite tags as surveillance devices to detect animal deaths – including the illegal killing of protected species