Dataset Information

Black-backed jackal exposure to rabies virus, canine distemper virus, and Bacillus anthracis in Etosha National Park, Namibia.

ABSTRACT: Canine distemper virus (CDV) and rabies virus (RABV) occur worldwide in wild carnivore and domestic dog populations and pose threats to wildlife conservation and public health. In Etosha National Park (ENP), Namibia, anthrax is endemic and generates carcasses frequently fed on by an unusually dense population of black-backed jackals (Canis mesomelas). Using serology, phylogenetic analyses (on samples obtained from February 2009-July 2010), and historical mortality records (1975-2011), we assessed jackal exposure to Bacillus anthracis (BA; the causal bacterial agent of anthrax), CDV, and RABV. Prevalence of antibodies against BA (95%, n = 86) and CDV (71%, n = 80) was relatively high, while that of antibodies against RABV was low (9%, n = 81). Exposure to BA increased significantly with age, and all animals >6 mo old were antibody-positive. As with BA, prevalence of antibodies against CDV increased significantly with age, with similar age-specific trends during both years of the study. No significant effect of age was found on the prevalence of antibodies against RABV. Three of the seven animals with antibodies against RABV were monitored for more than 1 yr after sampling and showed no signs of active infection. Mortality records revealed that rabid animals are destroyed nearly every year inside the ENP tourist camps. Phylogenetic analyses demonstrated that jackal RABV in ENP is part of the same transmission cycle as other dog-jackal RABV cycles in Namibia.

SUBMITTER: Bellan SE

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5479413 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Black-backed jackal exposure to rabies virus, canine distemper virus, and Bacillus anthracis in Etosha National Park, Namibia.

Bellan Steve E SE Cizauskas Carrie A CA Miyen Jacobeth J Ebersohn Karen K Küsters Martina M Prager K C KC Van Vuuren Moritz M Sabeta Claude C Getz Wayne M WM

Journal of wildlife diseases 20120401 2

Canine distemper virus (CDV) and rabies virus (RABV) occur worldwide in wild carnivore and domestic dog populations and pose threats to wildlife conservation and public health. In Etosha National Park (ENP), Namibia, anthrax is endemic and generates carcasses frequently fed on by an unusually dense population of black-backed jackals (Canis mesomelas). Using serology, phylogenetic analyses (on samples obtained from February 2009-July 2010), and historical mortality records (1975-2011), we assesse ...[more]

PMID: 22493112

Similar Datasets

Project description:Various species of wild, adaptable, medium-sized carnivores occur outside of protected areas, often coming into contact with people and their domestic animals. Negative human-carnivore interactions can lead to antagonistic attitudes and behavior directed at such species. In the South African Karoo, a semi-arid rangeland, the predation of small-livestock by mesopredators is common and farmers typically use a combination of non-lethal and lethal methods to try and prevent livestock losses. We used ethnographic field observations and semi-structured interviews as part of a mixed methods approach, including the quantitative and qualitative analysis of farmers' narratives to illustrate the nuanced ways in which sheep farmers relate to the two mesopredators that consume the most livestock on their farms; black-backed jackal and caracal. Overall, farmers attributed negative characteristics to jackal and caracal but farmers' narratives provided evidence of complex perceptions in that the animals were admired as well as disliked. Both species were seen as charismatic due to traits such as their physical appearance, their "cunning" nature and their remarkable adaptability to human activities, including lethal control. Aesthetic appreciation was an important predictor of tolerance towards both species whereas negative attitudes were associated with the perception that mesopredators should only occur within protected areas. Attitudes towards jackals also appeared to have been affected by cultural representations of them as "thieves". We showed that perceiving mesopredators as beautiful increased the average marginal probability of a farmer tolerating them, and that this strong relationship held when controlling for other covariates such as livestock predation. We advocate the importance of understanding the cultural and aesthetic aspects of predators and considering existing positive dimensions of human-wildlife relationships that may encourage increased farmers' tolerance, which might promote coexistence.

Project description:To achieve proper diagnosis of dogs based on acute clinical symptoms and poorly preserved field samples taken from animals that died due to canine distemper (CD), a new differential diagnostic test has been developed based on polymerase chain reaction (PCR). In this study, more than 150 samples collected from dogs showing respiratory, gastrointestinal and neurological signs suggesting canine distemper virus (CDV) infection were examined. The samples consisted of urine, blood and nasal swabs collected from clinically ill patients, sent to our laboratory by clinicians from various veterinary clinics throughout Hungary. Various organs collected during the necropsy of dogs with pathological changes that suggested CDV infection were also included. Three distinct PCRs were designed. For diagnostic purposes, a primer pair specific to a 409 bases-long segment within the conservative part of the large polymerase region (L) of the CDV genome was designed. Using this test, out of the 150 analyzed samples, 46 (30.66%) proved to be positive for CDV, indicating that CDV still represents a high risk to the canine population in Hungary. For the phylogenetical analysis, a primer pair that completely encompasses the hemagglutinin (H) gene of the CDV genome was designed. The amplicons of this region were sequenced in both directions using the appropriate primers. Our results indicate that several different CDV genotypes are currently present in Hungary. Nine of the analyzed Hungarian strains turned out to belong to the so-called Arctic group of CDVs, and were most closely related to non-European strains from North America, China and Greenland, as well as to the phocine distemper virus 2 (PDV-2) isolated from Baikal seals (Phoca sibirica). One of the Hungarian strains showed high similarity to other European isolates from Denmark, Germany, Italy and Turkey, as well as to other isolates from geographically more distant regions, such as the USA. Three Hungarian strains seem to join a new cluster that is formed by only a couple of strains, one isolated from a mink in Denmark, and another from a dog in North America. Using a third set of primers, a restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) assay has also been designed for the fast and reliable differentiation of the wild-type CDVs from the vaccine strains.

Dataset Information

Black-backed jackal exposure to rabies virus, canine distemper virus, and Bacillus anthracis in Etosha National Park, Namibia.

Publications

Black-backed jackal exposure to rabies virus, canine distemper virus, and Bacillus anthracis in Etosha National Park, Namibia.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets