June 6 - 11, 2027

Abstract submission opens on November 1, 2026, for the joint 75th Wildlife Disease Association Annual International and 8th WDA-Latin American Section Conferences. To be held in Mérida, MX, June 6-11, 2027.

The conference theme is “Reconciling the relationship between humanity and nature to promote One Health.”

As human activities increasingly reshape natural systems, understanding how these changes influence the health of wildlife, domestic animals, people, and ecosystems has become increasingly important. In 2027, the conference will emphasize interdisciplinary approaches that advance our understanding of wildlife health and disease within a One Health framework, particularly those that explore the complex relationships among ecological processes, human activities, animal populations, and environmental change. We encourage contributions that advance our understanding of the health of wildlife populations, the ecological and social processes that influence disease, and the connections among wildlife, domestic animals, people, and ecosystems. Submissions may span basic, applied, clinical, ecological, epidemiological, social, and interdisciplinary approaches, provided that the work has a clear and meaningful connection to wildlife health, animal health, ecosystem health, or One Health.

• Wildlife disease ecology, epidemiology, and host–pathogen interactions
• Emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases in wildlife
• Vector-borne and zoonotic diseases involving wildlife hosts or sylvatic transmission cycles
• Wildlife pathology, diagnostics, disease surveillance, and outbreak investigation
• Wildlife microbiomes, immunology, parasitology, and other biological processes relevant to health and disease
• Wildlife rehabilitation, rescue, and release when linked to disease, population health, surveillance, conservation outcomes, or One Health
• Wildlife management and conservation interventions with implications for animal or ecosystem health
• Health at wildlife–livestock–human interfaces
• Biodiversity, environmental change, habitat modification, and other ecological processes influencing wildlife health or disease
• Population health and disease in free-ranging wildlife
• Socioeconomic, behavioral, governance, or policy studies examining human activities and their consequences for wildlife health, disease management, or One Health
• Indigenous, local, and community-based knowledge relevant to wildlife health and human–nature relationships
• Science communication, education, and community engagement related to wildlife health and disease
• Methodological, technological, or modeling approaches that contribute to wildlife disease research, surveillance, prevention, or management

We particularly encourage interdisciplinary contributions that examine how human activities, environmental change, wildlife management, conservation, and social systems interact to influence health across species and ecosystems.

Abstracts will be submitted through the ExOrdo submission system: wda2027.exordo.com

General instructions for using ExOrdo can be found here: support.exordo.com/article/473-submitting-an-abstract-or-paper

When submitting your abstract, please choose your session (General–In Person, Student Presentation & Poster Competition–In Person, or Global Voice–Virtual) and indicate the thematic area that best fits your work: wildlife health and disease; disease ecology and epidemiology; One Health and wildlife–livestock–human interfaces; wildlife management, conservation, and rehabilitation; environmental and ecosystem health; socioeconomic, behavioral, policy, and community-based approaches; or the open call.

• Abstracts for all sessions must be submitted by January 15, 2026
• Abstract length is limited to 250 words
• Be sure to include all authors in the author list, including the submitting author and any co-authors
• All submissions will print exactly as submitted
• All abstracts must be submitted in English with a quality of spelling and grammar suitable for publication in the proceedings
• Proposals constituting sales pitches for products or services will not be considered.

If you would like your abstract to be considered for the Global Voice session, you must select “Global Voice–Virtual” during the abstract submission process. Abstracts submitted under another session category will not automatically be considered for Global Voice.

Once you submit your abstract, Ex Ordo will send you and your coauthors an email to confirm receipt of the abstract. This email will come from wda2027 notifications@exordo.com; check your junk folder if a confirmation is not received. After you submit your abstract, you will be able to log back into Ex Ordo and make modifications up until the abstract submission deadline. Work to be presented should adhere to the WDA Research Code of Conduct. All submissions will be reviewed for relevance to wildlife and the WDA community, originality, quality of aims, appropriateness of methodology, and conclusions supported by results. We will email you about the status of your abstract by March 1, 2027. If you do not receive this status notification, contact us at Wda2027@wildlifedisease.org.

Wildlife health and One Health professionals around the world are coming together to talk about what we experience, what we learn, what concerns us, what we discover, and what we hope for the future of our planet.

We want you to be part of these conversations.

Bring your perspective. Teach us something. Ask questions. Share what you know, what you have experienced, and what you are still trying to understand. Bring your topics to the table and help us make Global Voice broader in its themes, more diverse in its perspectives, and more inclusive in who gets to participate.

If there is something you need in order to be part of this conversation, tell us. We will do what we can to make participation possible.

If you are a professional working in alignment with the goals of the Wildlife Disease Association, we want and need your voice.

Global Voice is organized by an international team for an international audience. There is no single way of understanding wildlife health, and we want this event to reflect the diversity of experiences, knowledge systems, communities, regions, and approaches that make up our field.

A truly global and multilingual conversation

WDA2027 Global Voice offers a dynamic online platform featuring live presentations, interactive discussions, and real-time translation in more than 30 languages.

Presentations can be delivered in your preferred language, including English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, and others. Please contact the Global Voice organizers at the email address provided below to check whether live translation is available for your language.

Please provide your abstract in English.

What can you share?

We welcome diverse forms of knowledge and knowledge sharing, including Indigenous knowledges and approaches that may not fit traditional conference formats.

Your work can be presented through:

• Traditional conference-style presentations
• Storytelling approaches (check out an excellent example from WDA2024 Off-Country here)
• Video-based presentations (example video from WDA2024 Off-Country)

REMEMBER - If you would like your abstract to be considered for the Global Voice session, you must select “Global Voice–Virtual” during the abstract submission process. Abstracts submitted under another session category will not automatically be considered for Global Voice.

What happens after submission?

Work to be presented should adhere to the WDA Research Code of Conduct.

All submissions will be reviewed for relevance to wildlife and the WDA community, originality, quality of aims, appropriateness of methodology, and conclusions supported by results. Projects at an early stage, including those without results yet, may also be considered, provided that their current stage is clearly indicated in the abstract.

Sessions will be scheduled across multiple time zones to accommodate presenters from around the world.

After abstract acceptance, you can choose between delivering your online presentation live or submitting a recording.

Submit your abstract now and add your voice to this global conversation about wildlife health.

Any questions? Simply email wda2027GlobalVoice@gmail.com