November 2022

In 2022, the United States has ongoing zoonotic diseases that have made national news: SARS-CoV-2 (a strain of coronavirus), HPAI (a strain of avian influenza), and Monkeypox (a viral disease). It should be noted that HPAI has had only two reported cases in humans, according to CDC. These diseases, in addition to ongoing concerns about non-zoonotic diseases, such as Chronic Wasting Disease, epizootic hemorrhage disease, White-nose syndrome, snake fungal disease (Ophidiomycosis), and RHDV-2 (a rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus) have kept wildlife health professionals and their counterparts in human health and livestock health scrambling to protect the health of all. The call for greater collaboration and coordination of efforts across the disciplines of wildlife health, livestock health, and human health has increased, and efforts are underway to address the underlying issues.

Current Conservation without Conflict Executive Director, Lauren Ward, has announced that she will be stepping down from her position as Executive Director to focus more time with her family. The Cw/oC Executive Committee wants to thank Lauren for her leadership and efforts to advance the Cw/oC approach. Executive Committee Chair and Wildlife Management Institute President, Steve Williams, remarked, “Lauren has taken a concept and developed a strong coalition of agencies and organizations that will continue to advance collaboration and produce successful partnerships in response to difficult conservation issues. We thank Lauren for her vision and coordination. Cw/oC is positioned to become a more powerful coalition due to Lauren’s efforts. We wish her all the best in the next phase of her career.”