The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and Gorilla Doctors have launched a regional training programme to strengthen wildlife disease surveillance and improve Africa’s capacity to detect and respond to emerging infectious diseases.
The five-day training, running from November 2 to 6, 2026, at Queen Elizabeth National Park, has brought together 24 wildlife, veterinary, animal health, disease surveillance and conservation professionals from 11 African countries.
The participants come from Uganda, Rwanda, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Burundi, Liberia, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Togo and Ghana.
The programme is equipping them with practical skills to identify unusual wildlife health events, safely collect and handle specimens, investigate suspected outbreaks and improve the reporting and referral of potential disease cases.
The initiative is being implemented through collaboration between the FAO Regional Office for Africa, FAO Headquarters’ Animal Health Service (NSA) and Gorilla Doctors under the Pandemic Fund-supported Strengthening One Health-based Prevention, Preparedness and Response in the Greater Virunga Landscape (SOHPPRGVL) project.
The training comes amid growing concern over emerging and re-emerging zoonotic diseases, which pose risks to human and animal health, biodiversity, food systems and livelihoods.
Despite efforts by African countries to improve disease surveillance, gaps remain in detecting wildlife diseases, investigating outbreaks, handling specimens safely and coordinating information between field teams, laboratories and national reporting systems.
The programme combines classroom sessions with practical field exercises, focusing on priority zoonotic diseases, including Ebola Virus Disease, mpox, Marburg Virus Disease and Rift Valley Fever.
Its practical component recognises that wildlife health incidents often occur in remote protected areas, where park rangers and other frontline personnel may be the first to encounter sick or dead animals.
Representing the FAO Representative in Uganda, Dr. Willington Bessong Ojong, the Livestock and Fisheries Sector Coordinator, said wildlife health surveillance is increasingly important to public health and agricultural development.
He said protecting wildlife should be viewed beyond conservation, given its connection to community health, livestock production and economic resilience.
“Protecting wildlife health is no longer solely a conservation imperative. It is equally a public health necessity, an agricultural priority, and an investment in economic resilience,” Ojong said.
He noted that early detection of diseases in wildlife can provide an early warning, allowing authorities and communities to assess risks and coordinate interventions before outbreaks spread.
“Strengthened wildlife surveillance enhances our collective ability to detect threats early, assess risks and implement coordinated interventions before outbreaks escalate,” he added.
Dr. Bernard Sebidde, SOHPPRGVL Project Coordinator at Gorilla Doctors, said disease prevention must be integrated into wildlife conservation, particularly as human populations expand and interactions between people and wildlife increase.
He explained that the Greater Virunga Landscape, which covers parts of Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is an important ecosystem where people, livestock and wildlife interact.
These close interactions make effective disease surveillance and preparedness essential for protecting both public health and conservation efforts.
“Wildlife conservation and disease prevention must go hand in hand. As human populations grow and the space between people and wildlife continues to shrink, we must strengthen our ability to monitor disease threats while ensuring that wildlife is protected,” Sebidde said.
He cautioned against portraying wildlife as a source of danger, saying surveillance should instead improve understanding of disease risks and encourage safe coexistence.
“The goal is not to blame wildlife, but to understand the risks and learn how to live safely alongside it,” he said.
Rangers at the centre of early detection
The training also highlights the role of wildlife rangers in identifying potential disease outbreaks within protected areas.
Fred Kisame Eria, Chief Warden of the Queen Elizabeth Conservation Area, who represented the Executive Director of the Uganda Wildlife Authority, said rangers are often the first to encounter sick animals, unusual animal behaviour and unexplained wildlife deaths.
He said equipping frontline personnel with the skills to recognise, report and safely handle suspected disease events would strengthen early warning systems.
“Rangers are often the first to encounter sick animals or unusual wildlife deaths. Equipping them to recognise these events, report them appropriately and handle them safely is crucial to preventing future outbreaks,” Eria said.
He observed that limited capacity among frontline wildlife personnel and weak links between protected-area surveillance systems, national laboratories and reporting mechanisms have previously affected timely detection and response.
The regional programme is expected to improve these connections by enabling frontline personnel to identify unusual wildlife health events and ensure that relevant information and specimens reach the appropriate authorities and laboratories for investigation.
Building regional capacity through One Health
The training is anchored in the One Health approach, which recognises the interconnection between human, animal and environmental health.
The approach requires cooperation among wildlife authorities, veterinary and animal health services, public health institutions, environmental agencies, conservation organisations, laboratories and communities to prevent and respond to disease threats.
For African countries where people, livestock and wildlife share landscapes and natural resources, effective wildlife disease surveillance is particularly important.
The programme is also providing a platform for professionals from different countries to exchange experiences, share practical approaches and establish networks for responding to wildlife health threats.
Bringing together experts from East, West and Central Africa is expected to strengthen cross-border collaboration and improve the ability of national teams to detect and investigate disease threats.
For Uganda, hosting the training at Queen Elizabeth National Park provides participants with an opportunity to apply classroom lessons in a practical conservation setting.
The wider objective is to build a regional network of trained wildlife and animal health professionals capable of identifying unusual health events, supporting investigations and coordinating responses across sectors and national borders.
As African countries continue to confront emerging infectious disease threats, strengthening wildlife surveillance is increasingly important not only for conservation, but also for protecting human health, livestock, food systems and livelihoods.
