Disease risk analysis: a tool for primate conservation planning and decision making.
Concern about emerging and re-emerging diseases plays an increasing role in conservation and management of both captive and free-ranging nonhuman primates (NHPs). Managers and policy makers must formulate conservation plans in an arena plagued by uncertainty, complexity, emotion, and politics. The risk analysis paradigm provides a framework that brings together scientists and policy experts to make better decisions for both people and animals. Risk analysis is a multidisciplinary, science-based process that provides an organized and logical approach for incorporating scientific information into policy development in the real world. By blending four specific goal-oriented stages-hazard identification, risk assessment, risk management, and risk communication-one can logically assess the probability that an adverse event, such as the introduction of an emerging disease into a naïve population, will occur. The following is a review of this process as it pertains to NHP conservation and risks associated with infectious diseases.
Travis
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Davee Center for Epidemiology and Endocrinology, Department of Conservation and Science, Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago, Illinois 60614, USA. dtravis@lpzoo.org
Hungerford
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Engel
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Jones-Engel
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D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild; D003141:Communicable Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000635:transmission / Q000662:veterinary*; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D018419:Primate Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology / Q000635:transmission; D011323:Primates; D011634:Public Health; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012308:Risk Management; D015047:Zoonoses / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology / Q000635:transmission