The emergence of infectious (or transmissible) diseases of wildlife results in wide-reaching social, environmental, economic and political impacts.

Our group studies diseases which may

1. Contribute to species declines and extinctions, subsequently affecting biodiversity and ecosystem stability (such as amphibian chytridiomycosis, avian malaria and Tasmanian Devil Facial Tumour Disease)

2. Be transmissible to humans and domestic animals (such as Hendra virus in flying foxes and avian malaria)

3. Have adverse impacts on iconic wildlife species including population declines and costs to tourism (such as koala chlamydia and Tasmanian Devil Facial Tumour Disease).

Our collaborative and interdisciplinary research team takes an applied and integrated approach to studying these diseases as they affect conservation, agricultural and public health goals, for the purpose of informing management decisions and policy initiatives. Our overall aims are to understand and mitigate the impact of diseases on wildlife populations, ultimately to improve ecosystem stability and reduce spill-over of wildlife diseases to domestic animals and humans.

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Wildlife Health Australia provides helpful Fact Sheets on these various diseases and pathogens. Please find the Wildlife Health Australia Fact Sheets here.