The much-ambitious National Referral Centre for Wildlife (NRCW) project proposed at Junagarh in Gujarat is inching towards reality with officials from the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) under the Union Environment Ministry is preparing blueprints on disease/species-based research from the perspective of emerging infectious diseases, national wildlife disease surveillance program and prevention and management of wildlife diseases in emergent situations.
The proposed NRCW will be equipped with the highly sophisticated investigation and surveillance facilities for research and to pick up diseases both in animals and humans. The need for such an institute has been felt in view of the recent emergence and re-emergence of the threatening zoonotic diseases which calls for safe handling of animals by humans. While the land is being acquired, blueprint is being charted out for skill-based training and continued capacity-building of wildlife professionals and command control data & information management (Analytics) besides shaping wildlife health policy to be implemented at the Centre. These issues were discussed threadbare at the 2nd national stakeholder workshop on wildlife health and One Health Collaboration here.
The workshop, chaired by Union Minister of State for Environment Ashwini Chaubey aimed at advancing the development of the national centre for wildlife (NRC-W) and fostering collaboration for One Health initiatives.
The workshop served as a platform for insightful discussions and a consultative approach towards the development of the National Referral Centre for Wildlife. Member Secretary, CZA Sanjay Shukla and DIGF, CZA Akanksha Mahajan deliberated on critical aspects of wildlife health management, said a statement from the Environment Ministry.
Chaubey underscored the need for integrated surveillance covering humans, livestock, and wildlife. His statement comes amid reports that of 1407 human pathogens, 816 are zoonotic, i.e., capable of being transmitted naturally between animals and humans.
These include 538 bacteria and rickettsia, 317 fungi, 208 viruses, 287 helminths, and 57 protozoa. The Centre will work in collaboration with national and international institutes in the sector. The CZA, an autonomous body under the Ministry supervising the zoos across the country, will be the nodal agency for the Centre.
Further, the CZA workshop engaging sessions covered themes such as the Development of NRC-W, Disease Surveillance Needs in the Wildlife Sector, linkages with Human and Livestock Programs, R&D Needs for the Wildlife Sector, and the Need for an Effective Capacity Building Framework.
Key highlights of the workshop included the emphasis on a holistic approach integrating humans, livestock, and wildlife for effective wildlife health management, as per the statement from the Ministry. Besides, the workshop also provided an overview of the livestock disease surveillance system, paving the way for robust collaborations and information exchange between sectors.
