TY - JOUR
T1 - The effect of protected areas on pathogen exposure in endangered African wild dog (Lycaon pictus) populations
AU - Prager, K. C.
AU - Mazet, Jonna A.K.
AU - Munson, Linda
AU - Cleaveland, Sarah
AU - Donnelly, Christl A.
AU - Dubovi, Edward J.
AU - Szykman Gunther, Micaela
AU - Lines, Robin
AU - Mills, Gus
AU - Davies-Mostert, Harriet T.
AU - Weldon McNutt, J.
AU - Rasmussen, Gregory
AU - Terio, Karen
AU - Woodroffe, Rosie
N1 - Funding Information:
The Morris Animal Foundation provided funding to K.P. and R.W.; long-term support for R.W.’s work also came from the African Wildlife Foundation, Disney Wildlife Conservation Fund, National Geographic Society, SeaWorld-Busch Gardens Conservation Fund and the Wildlife Conservation Society. The Frankfurt Zoological Society provided funding for work in the Serengeti in the 1980s and early 1990s, and the Smithsonian Institution/Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute and the AZA Conservation Endowment Fund provided funding for M.S.G. C.A.D. thanks MRC for Centre funding. These funders had no role in study design, collection and analysis and interpretation of data, in the writing of the report, and in the decision to submit the paper for publication. The authors would like to thank Charles Rupprecht at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for generously running our rabies serology, Gabriella Flacke and Penny Spiering for providing detailed data on many of the wild dogs from the South African metapopulation, Stacy Schultz for technical assistance with the Babesia qPCR, and the members of the South Africa wild dog advisory group. The authors would also like to acknowledge members of the Wild Dog Advisory Group, South Africa, in particular Steve Dell, Declan Hofmeyr and Katherine Potgierter, for providing samples and the staff of South African National Parks. The authors would like to thank two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments and suggestions.
PY - 2012/6
Y1 - 2012/6
N2 - Infectious diseases impact African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus), but the nature and magnitude of this threat likely varies among populations according to different factors, such as the presence and prevalence of pathogens and land-use characteristics. We systematically evaluated these factors to assist development of locally appropriate strategies to mitigate disease risk. Wild dogs from 16 sites representing five unconnected populations were examined for rabies virus, canine distemper virus (CDV), canine parvovirus, canine coronavirus, and Babesia spp. exposure. Analyses revealed widespread exposure to viral pathogens, but Babesia was never detected. Exposure to CDV was associated with unprotected and protected-unfenced areas where wild dogs likely have a high probability of domestic dog contact and, in the case of protected-unfenced areas, likely reside amongst high wildlife densities. Our findings also suggest that domestic dog contact may increase rabies and coronavirus exposure risk. Therefore, domestic dogs may be a source of CDV, rabies and coronavirus, while wildlife may also play an important role in CDV transmission dynamics. Relatively high parvovirus seroprevalence across land-use types suggests that it might persist in the absence of spillover from domestic dogs. Should intervention be needed to control pathogens in wild dogs, efforts to prevent rabies and coronavirus exposure might be directed at reducing infection in the presumed domestic dog reservoir through vaccination. If prevention of CDV and parvovirus infections were deemed a management necessity, control of disease in domestic dogs may be insufficient to reduce transmission risks, and vaccination of wild dogs themselves may be the optimal strategy.
AB - Infectious diseases impact African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus), but the nature and magnitude of this threat likely varies among populations according to different factors, such as the presence and prevalence of pathogens and land-use characteristics. We systematically evaluated these factors to assist development of locally appropriate strategies to mitigate disease risk. Wild dogs from 16 sites representing five unconnected populations were examined for rabies virus, canine distemper virus (CDV), canine parvovirus, canine coronavirus, and Babesia spp. exposure. Analyses revealed widespread exposure to viral pathogens, but Babesia was never detected. Exposure to CDV was associated with unprotected and protected-unfenced areas where wild dogs likely have a high probability of domestic dog contact and, in the case of protected-unfenced areas, likely reside amongst high wildlife densities. Our findings also suggest that domestic dog contact may increase rabies and coronavirus exposure risk. Therefore, domestic dogs may be a source of CDV, rabies and coronavirus, while wildlife may also play an important role in CDV transmission dynamics. Relatively high parvovirus seroprevalence across land-use types suggests that it might persist in the absence of spillover from domestic dogs. Should intervention be needed to control pathogens in wild dogs, efforts to prevent rabies and coronavirus exposure might be directed at reducing infection in the presumed domestic dog reservoir through vaccination. If prevention of CDV and parvovirus infections were deemed a management necessity, control of disease in domestic dogs may be insufficient to reduce transmission risks, and vaccination of wild dogs themselves may be the optimal strategy.
KW - African wild dog
KW - Canine distemper virus
KW - Domestic dog
KW - Exposure risk
KW - Infectious disease
KW - Rabies virus
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U2 - 10.1016/j.biocon.2012.03.005
DO - 10.1016/j.biocon.2012.03.005
M3 - Article
C2 - 32226083
AN - SCOPUS:84860217933
SN - 0006-3207
VL - 150
SP - 15
EP - 22
JO - Biological Conservation
JF - Biological Conservation
IS - 1
ER -