The silent threat: neglected wildlife diseases and the urgent need for a One Health action plan in Bangladesh

Rabies and canine distemper virus remain notorious within Bangladesh's dog population, with dog bites and human rabies exposure commonly reported nationwide. Bangladesh's high-density human–livestock–wildlife interfaces, particularly in the Sundarbans, create exceptional risk for zoonotic spillover. Recent outbreaks, including anthrax in Rangpur and bovine tuberculosis (bTB) in Safari Park wildlife, confirm that pathogens are crossing species barriers, often undetected. This crisis reflects a critical systemic gap: the near-total absence of wildlife disease surveillance within fragmented national institutions. Neglecting wildlife health threatens endangered species, destabilizes ecosystems, and elevates pandemic risk. In this context, veterinarians play a pivotal role in early detection, diagnosis, vaccination, and cross-species surveillance. Integrating wildlife health within a One Health framework, including the establishment of wildlife health units and sentinel surveillance, is an urgent ecological and public health imperative for national security and biodiversity conservation.