Disease risk analysis: a tool for primate conservation planning and decision making

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Abstract
Concern about emerging and re‐emerging diseases plays an increasing role in conservation and management of both captive and free‐ranging nonhuman primates (NHPs). Managers and policy makers must formulate conservation plans in an arena plagued by uncertainty, complexity, emotion, and politics. The risk analysis paradigm provides a framework that brings together scientists and policy experts to make better decisions for both people and animals. Risk analysis is a multidisciplinary, science‐based process that provides an organized and logical approach for incorporating scientific information into policy development in the real world. By blending four specific goal‐oriented stages–hazard identification, risk assessment, risk management, and risk communication–one can logically assess the probability that an adverse event, such as the introduction of an emerging disease into a naïve population, will occur. The following is a review of this process as it pertains to NHP conservation and risks associated with infectious diseases. Am. J. Primatol. 68:855–867, 2006.