Resource Centre

The National Wildlife Biosecurity Guidelines have been developed to document best practice biosecurity measures for those working with Australian wildlife. The guidelines are intended for all people who work (or interact) with wildlife including wildlife managers, researchers, veterinarians, carers and others. All organisations which work with wildlife are encouraged to use the information in these guidelines to assess their own biosecurity risks and to develop and maintain an optimum level of biosecurity for their operations.

Click here for the Guidelines. WHA has also developed a one-page information sheet.

This manual has been developed by veterinary leaders and advisors within the Australian zoo industry to document best practice biosecurity measures currently being adopted by the zoo industry.

The National Zoo Biosecurity Manual (NZBM) was produced as a cooperative initiative between the Zoo and Aquarium Association, Wildlife Health Australia, the Commonwealth Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and the Australian Zoo Industry.

Click here to find out more and download the manual.

This document provides guidance to people interacting with wildlife on how to minimise the risk of human to wildlife transmission of SARS-CoV-2.

This document provides guidance on minimising the risk of spread of disease by bat researchers conducting activities in caves. These guidelines focus on bat research in caves, but many of the recommendations also apply to other activities in caves, and bat research in other situations.

The National Guidance for vaccination of koalas against chlamydia was developed by Wildlife Health Australia for the National Koala Recovery Team, with funding from the Commonwealth Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW). 

The Guidance is Australia's first national practical decision-support tool designed specifically to support koala managers, veterinarians and other stakeholders with decision-making for chlamydia vaccination programs. The Guidance provides evidence-based advice on chlamydia vaccination and outlines key principles, processes and recommendations. 

The Guidelines for Antimicrobial Prescribing in Australian Wildlife were developed by the AMR Vet Collective in collaboration with Wildlife Health Australia (WHA).

The guidelines are Australia’s first national guidelines designed specifically for the treatment of wildlife, developed by experts in wildlife medicine and antimicrobial stewardship, and focusing on the most common issues surrounding antimicrobial stewardship for wildlife. The guidelines aid responsible antibiotic use in wildlife, which is essential to our national efforts to preserve biodiversity and reduce antimicrobial resistance risks.

Australia's native wildlife is susceptible to the interacting threats of competitors, predators and disease. This document identifies endemic (present in Australia) infectious diseases that could pose a concern for biodiversity. 

National Guidelines for Management of Disease in Free-ranging Australian Wildlife have been developed as a practical document that outlines the science of wildlife disease management and describes what options might be available to manage wildlife diseases in an Australian context.

The focus of the Guidelines is on management options for disease in native wildlife at a population level and are intended for use by anyone involved in management of a disease in Australian wildlife.

The Guidelines emphasise that wildlife disease management should be undertaken as a multidisciplinary, collaborative effort, with input from a wide range of experts and stakeholders including Indigenous people. 

Click here for the Guidelines. WHA has also developed a one-page information sheet.

These guidelines use Australia's Veterinary Emergency Response Plan (AUSVETPLAN) framework and provide a high-level document for guiding the management of an emergency wildlife disease (EWD) response in Australian native animals. This is a living document and we encourage comments and feedback on the document from emergency managers and others who may be involved in any response.  

Please send these comments to admin@wildlifehealthaustralia.com.au for consideration for inclusion.

White-nose syndrome, a fungal disease caused by Pseudogymnoascus destructans, has caused significant mortalities of insectivorous bats in North America. P. destructans has not been identified in Australia. These guidelines have been developed by Wildlife Health Australia in consultation with stakeholder groups, to assist response agencies in the event of an incursion of this exotic disease into bats in Australia.

Sarcoptic mange, caused by the mite Sarcoptes scabiei, is an emerging infectious disease causing significant morbidity and mortality, with serious animal welfare impacts. Mange is known to affect wombats and other Australian native species. The treatment of mange in wildlife is challenging. Guidelines were developed through the NESP Threatened Species Recovery Hub. The document consists of two separate sections: Part 1) Treatment guidelines including a summary mange treatment information sheet and recommendations for future research; underpinned by Part 2) a Literature review of current knowledge and treatment methods. The treatment guidelines are for stakeholders who are directly involved in managing and delivering treatment. The recommendations are for those working to coordinate the overall response to mange. The literature review provides a snapshot of existing research-based and anecdotal knowledge. To access the guidelines: Part 1 - Treatment guidelines; Two-page information sheet; Part 2 - Literature review. 

This strategy sets out the disease control principles for use in an emergency incident caused by Chytridiomycosis / Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis in Australia. Chytridiomycosis was introduced into Australia at least by 1978 and is thought to have caused amphibian declines and extinctions in 1979. A disease investigation began in 1993 and the novel disease chytridiomycosis was found to be the cause of widespread amphibian declines and extinctions. Now the disease is widespread throughout most of its preferred range and there are only a few uninfected populations where chytridiomycosis may have an impact on conservation. This first edition of this manual was prepared by Lee Berger and Lee F. Skerratt, James Cook University. The authors were responsible for drafting the strategy, in consultation with a wide range of stakeholders throughout Australia. 

Click here to find out more information.

A series of communication guides have been developed to help encourage balanced communication of wildlife health topics particularly as they relate to human health. 

Possums: A Public Health Communication Guide
This guide aims to assist in the preparation of stories, media releases and other public communications on public health issues relating to Australian possums, with a focus on Buruli Ulcer.

Flying-foxes and Microbats: A Public Health Communication Guide for Government Media Teams (via the Bat Health Resources page)
This guide aims to assist Government agencies to engage with media outlets, and to prepare media releases and other public communication on public health issues relating to Australian bats.

Flying-foxes and Microbats: A Communication Guide for Researchers and Associated Media Teams (via the Bat Health Resources page)
This guide aims to assist researchers at universities and other research institutions, media teams, and other science communicators to prepare media releases and other public communication on research relating to Australian bats.

High Pathogenicity Avian Influenza and Wildlife: Communications guide for managers of wildlife populations (via the H5 Bird Flu Resources page)
This guide was developed to assist with public messaging in Australia about high pathogenicity avian influenza (H5 bird flu) in wildlife. The guide is limited to communications while H5 bird flu has not been detected in Australia.

Sarcoptic Mange Treatment in Wombats

Sarcoptic mange is a parasitic skin disease affecting many Australian wildlife species. Wombats are particularly prone to serious disease. The impact of mange in free-ranging wombats is commonly managed by coordinated large-scale treatment efforts using liquid anti-parasitic medications applied directly or indirectly to the skin of wombats.

Supported by the One Health Investigation Fund, Wildlife Health Australia commissioned Arcadis Australia Pacific Pty Ltd to undertake a desktop environmental risk assessment of the potential environmental impacts associated with anti-parasitic treatment of sarcoptic mange in free-ranging wombats. The report is a reference tool to guide further research, inform local risk assessments and promote the development of treatment recommendations for specific situations.

Our Fact Sheet contains further information on sarcoptic mange in wombats.

The Koala Health Hub (in collaboration with Wildlife Health Australia and the IUCN) has completed the national Koala Disease Risk Analysis (KDRA). This is the first disease risk analysis to examine disease risk for an Australian wildlife species at the national level. This nationwide approach was made possible through the support of the Australian Government and with the enthusiastic participation and engagement of a range of stakeholders. The stakeholder group each brought their unique perspective to evaluation of disease in this iconic species and developed the following Vision Statement which underpins the recommendations of the KDRA:

Sustainable, resilient and healthy populations of koalas, living in positive welfare within healthy ecosystems across their range. Koalas are well-managed in their local context and populations are supported by robust and consistent legislation, informed community engagement and long-term funding.

The KDRA Report and Appendices (published as two separate documents) offer a national, consolidated resource for decision-making in relation to koala health and disease priorities. They identify the knowledge base, information gaps, risk assessments and critical control points for koala disease hazards. They provide guidance for koala management at all jurisdictional levels, in all geographical ranges and for koalas in all management situations (captive, rehabilitation and wild).

The KDRA documents have recently been updated (May 2023) to include detailed, prioritised recommendations and to develop koala health and disease actions in alignment with other national koala conservation initiatives.

Ehrlichia canis is a tick-borne disease of dogs that emerged in Australia in May 2020. The disease has had a devastating impact on dogs in remote communities in the NT and northern WA, where it is now considered established. Dingoes are closely related to domestic dogs, but there is very little information on the likely impacts of E. canis on wild dingoes.

Wildlife Health Australia undertook this Disease Risk Assessment to examine the possible risks of Ehrlichia canis to wild dingoes, to identify gaps in knowledge and to identify actions that could be undertaken to reduce the risk that E. canis poses to wild dingoes.

August 2020

Wildlife Health Australia, in collaboration with government and non-government stakeholders, is continually assessing information on the COVID-19 situation. A risk assessment was conducted to assess the likelihood of SARS-CoV-2 establishing in an Australian bat population following human-to-bat transmission, and the resulting consequences:

Quantitative Risk Assessment – COVID-19 & Australian Bats (August 2020)

Publication: Cox-Witton K et al (2021). Risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission from humans to bats – An Australian assessment. One Health, 13, 100247

Wildlife Health Australia, with funding from the Department of Agriculture, Water and Environment commissioned a disease risk assessment for the potential introduction of white-nose syndrome to Australia. This report was prepared by a team of experts led through the University of Melbourne in collaboration with the South Australian Museum, DELWP (Arthur Rylah Institute) Victoria and the University of Adelaide. 

Find the risk assessment report here.

Publication: Holz P et al (2019). Does the fungus causing white-nose syndrome pose a significant risk to Australian bats? Wildlife Research, 46(8), 657-68

The risk (likelihood and consequence) of H5N1 HPAI clade 2.3.4.4b (H5 bird flu) incursions into Australia via wild birds

H5 bird flu is a serious and highly contagious strain of avian influenza, which has been spreading globally since 2021 through the movements of wild birds, with unprecedented impact on poultry, wild birds and some mammals.

In 2022, to better understand the risk of H5 bird flu and help guide preparedness efforts, the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) commissioned work to assess Australia’s vulnerability to this disease, including a risk assessment. Based on information available as of 20 July 2023, the risk was assessed to have increased compared to previous risk assessments.

Please note

• This risk assessment considers the risk of H5N1 HPAI clade 2.3.4.4b (H5 bird flu) incursions into Australia via two pathways:
  • via long-distance migratory birds of the orders Charadriiformes (notably shorebirds) and Procellariformes (notably shearwaters) during the Spring migratory period.
  • via nomadic Anseriformes (waterfowl) within the Australo-Papuan region, which occur year-round, with frequent yet irregular movements of birds, driven by strong environmental conditions within the region.

• The global avian influenza situation is dynamic and since this report was finalised (20 July 2023), H5N1 HPAI clade 2.3.4.4b emerged in the sub-Antarctic.
  • The risk of incursions into Australia via a third pathway, involving long-distance movements of seabirds with circumpolar distributions, was subsequently assessed at the international level in the OFFLU and included considerations for Oceania, including Australia.

• Australia had its first detections of H5 bird flu in June 2026, in a migratory seabird on Western Australia’s southern coast. For more information on this event, see birdflu.gov.au and Wildlife Health Australia’s Incident Information page.

WHA would like to acknowledge the significant expertise and comprehensive assessments undertaken by Dr Marcel Klaassen (Deakin University) and Dr Michelle Wille (The University of Melbourne) in addition to critical contributions and feedback from members of the National Avian Influenza Wild Bird Steering Group.