Seven Decades of Seminal Contributions on Rabies in the Journal of Wildlife Diseases.

Abstract

Over the past 75 years, the Wildlife Disease Association has served as a primary professional resource for the dissemination of scientific information and the generation of seminal contributions on diverse wildlife health issues. Historical examination of the organization's records from 1951 onwards reveals a dynamic evolution in communicative formats, from newsletters, to microfiches and bulletins, to culmination in the current periodical, the Journal of Wildlife Diseases. Using rabies as one major example, to date nearly 300 documents have appeared as Letters to the Editor, short communications, full research articles, engaging perspectives, or expansive reviews. Given the high case fatality, global distribution, broad host susceptibility, and significance to agriculture, human and veterinary medicine, and conservation biology, rabies serves as an ideal One Health exemplar shepherded by the Journal over time. Expansive topics have encompassed individual species case reports and series; sensitive and specific diagnostic methods for enhanced laboratory-based surveillance; disease ecology and control and prevention issues; epidemiological insights; disease emergence; public health engagement; pathogenesis; bio-economics; modeling considerations; host-agent biological traits, serological surveys, and novel vaccinology applied to free-ranging animals; and modern virological techniques. As such, using rabies as a subjective surrogate, the Journal has served as a critical resource, not only to chart the course of progress in the wildlife health field historically, from its rather humble North American origins during the mid-20th century, but also as its continued scientific relevance today in promotion of the transdisciplinary mission of a global professional organization.