The Oceanic Platform of the Canary Islands (PLOCAN) becomes, this week, the international epicenter of animal health, especially marine health, by hosting the meeting of the Network of Collaborating Centers of the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH). This strategic event brings together leading global experts in wildlife health and conservation.
For three days, from June 25 to 27, PLOCAN’s facilities will serve as the venue where technical and scientific actions will be planned to prevent future pandemics, such as COVID-19. The meeting aims to strengthen international cooperation and coordinate responses to the growing health threats affecting both wildlife and, by extension, public health and the environment.
The event, organized by the University Institute of Animal Health (IUSA) of the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC)—a member of the WOAH International Network of Collaborating Centers—and supported by PLOCAN, seeks to update regulations on wildlife health and develop standard operating procedures for outbreak investigation. These actions will enable the implementation of the WOAH Wildlife Health Strategy for the 2026-2030 period.
The recent COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the close relationship between humans and wildlife, as well as the risk of future pandemics of animal origin. Until the emergence of COVID-19, surveillance of diseases in wild animals was limited and fragmented. Today, the scientific community recognizes the need to monitor wildlife health in order to detect viruses with pandemic potential before they cross the species barrier.
By hosting this meeting, PLOCAN, IUSA, and the Canary Islands are consolidating their position as an international reference hub for health surveillance, both in the Atlantic and as the southern gateway to Europe, playing a geostrategic role in wildlife health, especially in the marine environment.
