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Tavernier P, van de Bildt M, Kuiken T, Van Den Berge K, De Cock H, Terryn S, Van der Wijden B, Beck O. A Canine Distemper Outbreak in Urban Red Foxes (Vulpes vulpes) in Brussels, Belgium, 2020. J Wildl Dis 2024; 60:753-757. [PMID: 38754866 DOI: 10.7589/jwd-d-23-00157] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2023] [Accepted: 04/02/2024] [Indexed: 05/18/2024]
Abstract
Canine distemper has been observed infrequently in Belgian wildlife, mainly stone martens (Martes foina) and red foxes (Vulpes vulpes). This report describes an outbreak in the Brussels urban red fox population, characterized by its high density. The identified virus matched those within a cluster of viruses found previously in red foxes in Germany. Different canine distemper virus (CDV) strains, found in Belgian wild carnivores, share relationships with viruses found farther east. This and other reports indicate an endemic distribution of CDV in wild carnivores in Europe whereby the complex interplay of population density, group immunity, and infection of metapopulations determines the pattern of spatiotemporally alternating outbreaks.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Marco van de Bildt
- Erasmus MC, PO Box 2040, Dr. Molewaterplein 40, 3015 GD Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Thijs Kuiken
- Erasmus MC, PO Box 2040, Dr. Molewaterplein 40, 3015 GD Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Koen Van Den Berge
- Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO), Gaverstraat 4, 9500 Geraardsbergen, Belgium
| | - Hilde De Cock
- Medvet, Emiel Vloorsstraat 9, 2020 Antwerpen, Belgium
| | - Sanne Terryn
- Sciensano, Juliette Wytsmanstraat 14, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
| | | | - Olivier Beck
- Brussels Environment, Havenlaan 86C/3000, 1000 Brussels, Belgium
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Hunter-Barnett S, Viney M. Gut protozoa of wild rodents - a meta-analysis. Parasitology 2024; 151:594-605. [PMID: 38714350 PMCID: PMC11427965 DOI: 10.1017/s0031182024000556] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/09/2024]
Abstract
Protozoa are well-known inhabitants of the mammalian gut and so of the gut microbiome. While there has been extensive study of a number of species of gut protozoa in laboratory animals, particularly rodents, the biology of the gut protozoa of wild rodents is much less well-known. Here we have systematically searched the published literature to describe the gut protozoa of wild rodents, in total finding records of 44 genera of protozoa infecting 228 rodent host species. We then undertook meta-analyses that estimated the overall prevalence of gut protozoa in wild rodents to be 24%, with significant variation in prevalence among some host species. We investigated how host traits may affect protozoa prevalence, finding that for some host lifestyles some protozoa differed in their prevalence. This synthesis of existing data on wild rodent gut protozoa provides a better understanding of the biology of these common gut inhabitants and suggests directions for their future study.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simon Hunter-Barnett
- Department of Evolution, Ecology and Behaviour, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 7ZB, UK
| | - Mark Viney
- Department of Evolution, Ecology and Behaviour, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 7ZB, UK
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Hendricks SA, King JL, Duncan CL, Vickers W, Hohenlohe PA, Davis BW. Genomic Assessment of Cancer Susceptibility in the Threatened Catalina Island Fox ( Urocyon littoralis catalinae). Genes (Basel) 2022; 13:1496. [PMID: 36011407 PMCID: PMC9408614 DOI: 10.3390/genes13081496] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2022] [Revised: 08/12/2022] [Accepted: 08/12/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Small effective population sizes raise the probability of extinction by increasing the frequency of potentially deleterious alleles and reducing fitness. However, the extent to which cancers play a role in the fitness reduction of genetically depauperate wildlife populations is unknown. Santa Catalina island foxes (Urocyon littoralis catalinae) sampled in 2007-2008 have a high prevalence of ceruminous gland tumors, which was not detected in the population prior to a recent bottleneck caused by a canine distemper epidemic. The disease appears to be associated with inflammation from chronic ear mite (Otodectes) infections and secondary elevated levels of Staphyloccus pseudointermedius bacterial infections. However, no other environmental factors to date have been found to be associated with elevated cancer risk in this population. Here, we used whole genome sequencing of the case and control individuals from two islands to identify candidate loci associated with cancer based on genetic divergence, nucleotide diversity, allele frequency spectrum, and runs of homozygosity. We identified several candidate loci based on genomic signatures and putative gene functions, suggesting that cancer susceptibility in this population may be polygenic. Due to the efforts of a recovery program and weak fitness effects of late-onset disease, the population size has increased, which may allow selection to be more effective in removing these presumably slightly deleterious alleles. Long-term monitoring of the disease alleles, as well as overall genetic diversity, will provide crucial information for the long-term persistence of this threatened population.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah A. Hendricks
- Institute for Interdisciplinary Data Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID 83844, USA
| | - Julie L. King
- Catalina Island Conservancy, P.O. Box 2739, Avalon, CA 90704, USA
| | - Calvin L. Duncan
- Catalina Island Conservancy, P.O. Box 2739, Avalon, CA 90704, USA
| | - Winston Vickers
- Institute for Wildlife Studies, Arcata, CA 95521, USA
- Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA
| | - Paul A. Hohenlohe
- Institute for Interdisciplinary Data Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID 83844, USA
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID 83844, USA
| | - Brian W. Davis
- Department of Veterinary Integrative Biosciences, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Science, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77840, USA
- Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Science, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77840, USA
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Üveges B, Basson AC, Móricz ÁM, Bókony V, Hettyey A. Chemical defence effective against multiple enemies: Does the response to conspecifics alleviate the response to predators? Funct Ecol 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.13870] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Bálint Üveges
- Lendület Evolutionary Ecology Research Group Plant Protection Institute Centre for Agricultural Research Eötvös Loránd Research Network Budapest Hungary
| | - Anna C. Basson
- Lendület Evolutionary Ecology Research Group Plant Protection Institute Centre for Agricultural Research Eötvös Loránd Research Network Budapest Hungary
- Department of Systematic Zoology and Ecology Eötvös Loránd University Budapest Hungary
| | - Ágnes M. Móricz
- Department of Pathophysiology Plant Protection Institute Centre for Agricultural Research Eötvös Loránd Research Network Budapest Hungary
| | - Veronika Bókony
- Lendület Evolutionary Ecology Research Group Plant Protection Institute Centre for Agricultural Research Eötvös Loránd Research Network Budapest Hungary
- Department of Systematic Zoology and Ecology Eötvös Loránd University Budapest Hungary
| | - Attila Hettyey
- Lendület Evolutionary Ecology Research Group Plant Protection Institute Centre for Agricultural Research Eötvös Loránd Research Network Budapest Hungary
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Jiao J, Gilchrist MA, Fefferman NH. The impact of host metapopulation structure on short-term evolutionary rescue in the face of a novel pathogenic threat. Glob Ecol Conserv 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.gecco.2020.e01174] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022] Open
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Sanchez JN, Hudgens BR. Vaccination and monitoring strategies for epidemic prevention and detection in the Channel Island fox (Urocyon littoralis). PLoS One 2020; 15:e0232705. [PMID: 32421723 PMCID: PMC7233584 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0232705] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2019] [Accepted: 04/21/2020] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Disease transmission and epidemic prevention are top conservation concerns for wildlife managers, especially for small, isolated populations. Previous studies have shown that the course of an epidemic within a heterogeneous host population is strongly influenced by whether pathogens are introduced to regions of relatively high or low host densities. This raises the question of how disease monitoring and vaccination programs are influenced by spatial heterogeneity in host distributions. We addressed this question by modeling vaccination and monitoring strategies for the Channel Island fox (Urocyon littoralis), which has a history of substantial population decline due to introduced disease. We simulated various strategies to detect and prevent epidemics of rabies and canine distemper using a spatially explicit model, which was parameterized from field studies. Increasing sentinel monitoring frequency, and to a lesser degree, the number of monitored sentinels from 50 to 150 radio collared animals, reduced the time to epidemic detection and percentage of the fox population infected at the time of detection for both pathogens. Fox density at the location of pathogen introduction had little influence on the time to detection, but a large influence on how many foxes had become infected by the detection day, especially when sentinels were monitored relatively infrequently. The efficacy of different vaccination strategies was heavily influenced by local host density at the site of pathogen entry. Generally, creating a vaccine firewall far away from the site of pathogen entry was the least effective strategy. A firewall close to the site of pathogen entry was generally more effective than a random distribution of vaccinated animals when pathogens entered regions of high host density, but not when pathogens entered regions of low host density. These results highlight the importance of considering host densities at likely locations of pathogen invasion when designing disease management plans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica N. Sanchez
- Institute for Wildlife Studies, Arcata, California, United States of America
| | - Brian R. Hudgens
- Institute for Wildlife Studies, Arcata, California, United States of America
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