Page 26 - Gateways_Summer2023_Neat

Training Tomorrow’s Wildlife Health Professionals continued

“There is a critical need for expertise in wildlife health and “The wildlife health residency program will help build a work-
disease,” said Dr. Matt Allender, a clinical veterinarian with CZS force of highly trained wildlife health professionals who will
and the residency program’s director. “There are only 17 states help protect our natural resources,” said Allender, who is also
with state wildlife veterinarians,” he said. Health factors, including the founder and director of the University of Illinois Wildlife
disease, are top threats to the survival of species around the globe Epidemiology Laboratory, a research, diagnostic, and training
and 75 percent of emerging diseases in humans are zoonotic— laboratory for the study of free-ranging and zoo-managed animal
or caused by infections that spread between animals and people. diseases—one of the leading programs in the country.
Two-thirds of zoonotic infections have originated from human
interactions with wild animals. The Residency
Ranaviruses have wiped out populations of reptiles, amphibians, In a nutshell, Winter’s job is to conduct and assist with laboratory
and fish—many of them endangered species. Amphibian chytrid and field work to help maintain the health of wildlife and
fungal disease has driven some species of frogs to extinction. ecosystems in Cook County. Many of these animals live in the
Since 2021, the H5N1 subtype of avian influenza being spread 70,000-acre Forest Preserves of Cook County, one of the largest
around the world by migratory birds, has resulted in the deaths forest preserve districts in the U.S. Others have adapted to
of millions of wild and domesticated birds and thousands of living in close proximity to humans, including in urban areas.
mammals, including endangered sea lions and Humboldt
penguins along the west coast of South America.

26 GATEWAYS | WILDLIFE HEALTH