How Wildlife Monitoring Helps Protect Human Health
When we think of the frontline of healthcare, we usually imagine a sterile hospital room, the beep of a heart monitor, or the rush of an emergency department. But in Saskatchewan, a dedicated group of researchers and veterinarians are showing that protecting human health often begins well before anyone enters a hospital. It starts in the boreal forest, along migratory bird routes, or in communities where animals and people live in close connection.
This approach is known as “One Health”, the recognition that human health is inseparable from the health of animals and the environment we share.
Modern public health research has made one thing increasingly clear. Zoonotic diseases, those that spread from animals to humans, have been at the root of many of the most significant infectious disease outbreaks in recent decades.
As human activity continues to intersect more closely with wildlife and ecosystems, these spillover events are occurring more frequently and with greater impact. Preventing future outbreaks requires paying attention to where these risks first emerge.
The Watchtower: Surveillance in the Wild
Before a disease ever reaches a community, it often appears quietly in nature. This is where early detection becomes critical.
The Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative (CWHC), a national network operating through universities and partners across the country, plays a central role in monitoring wildlife health.
In Saskatchewan, the organization functions as an early warning system, tracking diseases in wild animal populations that could pose future risks to livestock or people.
CWHC is a key surveillance body for avian influenza and other emerging pathogens, monitoring how viruses move, evolve, and spread across regions. This work allows scientists and public health authorities to understand potential threats long before they appear in farms, cities, or healthcare settings.
Early detection in wildlife provides the time and information needed to respond thoughtfully rather than reactively.
Early warning, however, is only one part of prevention.
The Sentinels: Community Dogs and One Health
The One Health framework also includes the animals that live alongside people every day. In Saskatchewan, the Canine Action Project (CAP) plays a vital role at this community level.
CAP is a registered charity that provides veterinary care, spay and neuter services, and education in remote and Indigenous communities. While their work is often viewed through an animal welfare lens, it also serves an important public health function.
Dogs can act as sentinels for broader health risks. When veterinary care is limited, diseases such as rabies, parasites, and other communicable illnesses are more likely to spread among animals and, in some cases, to people. By improving access to routine veterinary services, CAP helps reduce these risks at their source.
Ensuring that community animals are healthy creates a stabilizing effect. It protects families, supports safer living environments, and reduces the likelihood that preventable diseases will escalate into wider public health concerns.
A Preventative Way to Give
Philanthropy is often reactive, responding to crises once they are already visible. The work being done in Saskatchewan offers a different approach, one focused on prevention.
Together, wildlife surveillance and community-based animal care form an early-warning and risk-reduction system that protects human health long before hospitals are involved. By identifying threats in nature and reducing disease pressures at the community level, these efforts help contain risks before they spread.
Supporting organizations like the Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative and the Canine Action Project is a preventative act. It strengthens the systems that quietly protect communities, safeguard ecosystems, and preserve the shared circle of human, animal, and environmental health.
Written by: Kaloyan Krastnikov, Volunteer Contributing Writer, CharityAxess Writers Program
About the Writer:Kaloyan Krastnikov writes where rigorous thought meets lived feeling. With an approach that values clarity as much as curiosity, he transforms ideas about medical innovation and discovery into stories that illuminate, question, and console. In his free time he reads widely, tinkers with small data projects, and escapes into guitar playing and experimental cooking.
Photo Credit: Peter Xie via Pexels.com
