2026 (No. 1)

AHEAD Update

Dear AHEAD Colleagues,

Welcome to the latest issue of the AHEAD Update. As always, if you would like to post an item in the next Update, please just send it to us – thanks.

Featured Paper

Rosen, LE et al. (2026) Using Qualitative Risk Assessment to Re-Evaluate the Veterinary Fence Paradigm within the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area.
Frontiers in Veterinary Science

We are pleased to share this new paper with you, a product of an exciting collaboration in KAZA that AHEAD has helped facilitate over the past several years.

Building on the report we shared previously on a fencing scenarios disease risk assessment for KAZA, this new peer-reviewed publication strengthens and formalizes those findings, demonstrating that key veterinary fence sections could be removed in areas deemed critical for wildlife habitat connectivity without increasing the risks of transboundary disease outbreaks. In other words, the risks for outbreaks remained the same when comparing the status quo and scenarios with proposed fence section removals. In some cases, the authors also found that the probability of disease occurrence would be decreased by the addition of risk mitigation measures such as improved livestock herding.

New Videos & Podcasts

CNN Inside Africa – Featuring CLAWS (Communities Living Among Wildlife Sustainably)

CNN Inside Africa spotlights the work of CLAWS with communities in Botswana’s Okavango Delta, showing how community-led livestock herding is conserving lions while opening important new markets for certified wildlife-friendly beef.

Steve and Some Good Gnus in Southern Africa

Dr. Steve Osofsky shares how a potential paradigm shift in southern African livestock disease management has extraordinary implications for wildlife conservation.

Additional New Resources

Dickie, G (2026) Botswana Shows How Smarter Cattle Herding Can Save Lions, Reopen Ancient Wildlife Pathways.
Mongabay

Restoring traditional herding practices in northern Botswana keeps livestock safe from predators and diseases, reduces retaliatory killings of lions, and offers hope for restoring wildlife corridors.

Sennett C & Chambers CL (2025) International Border Fences and Walls Negatively Affect Wildlife: A Review.
Biological Conservation

Rapid expansion of international border barriers is fragmenting habitats and restricting wildlife movements. Cross-border collaboration and wildlife-friendly alternatives to traditional fencing are needed.

Köhler E & Bollig M (2025) Elephant Corridors in the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA TFCA): Environmental Infrastructures for a Greener Anthropocene in Namibia’s Mudumu Landscape.
Review of Regional Research

Focusing on a key KAZA wildlife corridor and the complexities of corridor management, researchers find that conflict is more frequent along linear settlements close to roads than near corridors.

Truscott, R (2025) Corridors, Not Culls, Offer Solution to Southern Africa’s Growing Elephant Population.
Mongabay

Facilitating movement – rather than culling – offers a proactive, long-term conservation strategy for the region's elephant populations.

Idi, HM & Bebanto, ABB (2026) History and Evolution of Contagious Bovine Pleuropneumonia (CBPP): A Review of Scientific Knowledge and Control Strategies.
European Journal of Veterinary Medicine

Despite eradication elsewhere, CBPP persists in sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Asia. This review traces the disease’s evolution and control, identifying technical and policy-related needs for eradication.

Okunola, A et al. (2026) Whole-Genome Sequencing Reveals Genetic Diversity and Transmission Dynamics of Mycobacterium bovis in South African Wildlife.
Microbial Genomics

Using whole-genome sequencing, this study enhances understanding of how M. bovis spreads in South African wildlife, with findings that inform targeted management strategies to control transmission and protect biodiversity.

Auer, A et al. (2026) Innate Resistance to African Swine Fever Virus: Current Knowledge and Future Directions.
BMC Veterinary Research

This review examines the biological basis and epidemiological implications of natural resistance to African swine fever virus, highlighting key knowledge gaps and promising directions for future research.

Upcoming Meetings

Wildlife Disease Association (WDA) Conference
26-31 Jul 2026, Chicago, USA

The 74th annual WDA conference will be centered around the theme "Thriving Together: Urban One Health and Ecosystem Resiliency.”

9th World One Health Congress (WOHC)
4-7 Sep 2026, Lisbon, Portugal

WOHC 2026 will emphasize One Health science and the science-policy interface. Registration is now open.

Again, if you have items for the next AHEAD Update, please just let us know – thanks.

Yours in One Health,

Steve & Shirley

Steve Osofsky, DVM
Cornell University, College of Veterinary Medicine
Jay Hyman Professor of Wildlife Health & Health Policy
Director, AHEAD Program
Director, Cornell K. Lisa Yang Center for Wildlife Health
s.osofsky@cornell.edu

Shirley Atkinson, MSc
Cornell University, College of Veterinary Medicine
AHEAD Program Coordinator
Associate Director, Cornell K. Lisa Yang Center for Wildlife Health
s.atkinson@cornell.edu

What is AHEAD?

AHEAD works to create enabling environments that allow different and often competing sectors to literally come to the same table and find collaborative ways forward to address challenges at the interface of wildlife health, livestock health, and human health and livelihoods. We convene stakeholders and provide technical support and resources for projects locally identified as priorities. AHEAD, one of the first applied One Health programs, recognizes the need to look at health, disease, and the environment together, while always taking a given region's socioeconomic, political, and policy context into account.