The Role of Hunters in Wildlife Health Research and Monitoring: Their Contribution as Citizen Scientists in Italy

Author:

Zanet Stefania1ORCID,Benatti Francesco1,Poncina Manuela1,Pasetto Carlotta1,Chiari Mario2,Sorrenti Michele2,Ferroglio Ezio1

Affiliation:

1. Dipartimento di Scienze Veterinarie, Università degli Studi di Torino, Largo Braccini 2, 10095 Grugliasco, Italy

2. Federazione Italiana della Caccia, Via Garigliano 57, 00198 Roma, Italy

Abstract

In Italy, there are hundreds of research, monitoring, and surveillance activities targeting emerging and re-emerging pathogens. These activities heavily rely on hunters for sample collection and early identification of morbidity/mortality events. The objective of this review is to describe and quantify the contribution of hunters in the context of disease research, monitoring, and surveillance in wild populations. A literature review and descriptive summary statistics were performed following PRISMA-2020 guidelines; articles were obtained from major scientific databases, abstracts from national and international conferences, proceedings, graduate-level theses from online library repositories, and direct contact with academic experts. The contribution of hunters in terms of sample collection for health-related activities on wildlife amounts to 400,000 sampled animals. Wild boars were involved in 158 surveillance systems/research studies, followed by red deer (71), foxes (63), and roe deer (59). The pathogens under surveillance were mainly zoonotic (Salmonella spp.), emerging (Hepatitis E virus), and/or vector-borne (West Nile virus). The temporal distribution of scientific papers followed a positive trend that reflects the growing interest in wildlife from different sectors. These results highlight how wildlife health-related efforts are a paradigm of the concept of One Health, in which the role of hunters is crucial to ensure sample availability, and it constitutes the base of much current wildlife health research, monitoring, and surveillance.

Funder

Federazione Italiana della Caccia

Publisher

MDPI AG

Reference49 articles.

1. Global trends in emerging infectious diseases;Jones;Nature,2008

2. Impacts of biodiversity on the emergence and transmission of infectious diseases;Keesing;Nature,2010

3. Drivers of disease emergence and spread: Is wildlife to blame?;Kock;Onderstepoort J. Vet. Res.,2014

4. ENETWILD Consortium (2022). Describing and mapping of the main existing structures and systematic initiatives and academic activities for surveillance in the EU for zoonoses (transboundary, emerging and re-emerging) in domestic animals and wildlife. EFSA Suporting Publ., 19, 12.

5. (2023, September 10). Piano Di Monitoraggio Regionale Sulla Sorveglianza Delle Malattie Infettive Zoonosiche E Non Della Fauna Selvatica. Available online: https://www.oevcampania.it/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/File-3-ALL.-PROC.-DOCUM.-B7-REV-03-2021-con-ALLEGATI.pdf.

同舟云学术

1.学者识别学者识别

2.学术分析学术分析

3.人才评估人才评估

"同舟云学术"是以全球学者为主线,采集、加工和组织学术论文而形成的新型学术文献查询和分析系统,可以对全球学者进行文献检索和人才价值评估。用户可以通过关注某些学科领域的顶尖人物而持续追踪该领域的学科进展和研究前沿。经过近期的数据扩容,当前同舟云学术共收录了国内外主流学术期刊6万余种,收集的期刊论文及会议论文总量共计约1.5亿篇,并以每天添加12000余篇中外论文的速度递增。我们也可以为用户提供个性化、定制化的学者数据。欢迎来电咨询!咨询电话:010-8811{复制后删除}0370

www.globalauthorid.com

TOP

Copyright © 2019-2024 北京同舟云网络信息技术有限公司
京公网安备11010802033243号  京ICP备18003416号-3