Research · Biosecurity

Biosecurity & emerging threats

What scavengers mean for preparing Australia for rabies and H5N1 bird flu.

A golden dingo standing alert in dry tropical woodland

This theme connects field ecology with preparedness: understanding scavenger behaviour helps anticipate how threats such as H5N1 avian influenza, or rabies reaching Australia’s north, could spread – and where surveillance and carcass management matter most.

Projects

Ongoing

Carcasses at the wild–domestic interface

How scavenger activity around carrion could bridge disease transmission between wild and domestic animals.

Related publications

2025

Frontiers in Veterinary ScienceOpen accessIn the news (3)

The final frontier: using carcasses for one health surveillance at the ecosystem interface

Barton KA, Finnerty PB, Rupasinghe R, González-Crespo C, Mahar JE, Eden J, …, Brookes VJ

Disease surveillance systems largely overlook carcasses. This perspective argues that vertebrate carcasses are a critical, under-used window onto pathogen transmission between wildlife, domestic animals and people – especially as mass mortality events increase and key scavengers such as vultures decline.

Read paper Free full text Wildlife disease & spillover Biosecurity & emerging threats

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