Assessing the risk of human-to-wildlife pathogen transmission for conservation and public health.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Fagre AC
PROVIDER: S-EPMC9313783 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:Viruses can be transmitted from animals to humans (and vice versa) and across animal species. As such, host-virus interactions and transmission have attracted considerable attention. Non-human primates (NHPs), our closest evolutionary relatives, are susceptible to human viruses and certain pathogens are known to circulate between humans and NHPs. Here, we generated global statistics on VI-NHPs based on a literature search and public data mining. In total, 140 NHP species from 12 families are reported to be infected by 186 DNA and RNA virus species, 68.8% of which are also found in humans, indicating high potential for crossing species boundaries. The top 10 NHP species with high centrality in the NHP-virus network include two great apes (Pan troglodytes, Pongo pygmaeus) and eight Old World monkeys (Macaca mulatta, M. fascicularis, M. leonina, Papio cynocephalus, Cercopithecus ascanius, C. erythrotis, Chlorocebus aethiops, and Allochrocebus lhoesti). Given the wide distribution of Old World monkeys and their frequent contact with humans, there is a high risk of virus circulation between humans and such species. Thus, we suggest recurring epidemiological surveillance of NHPs, specifically Old World monkeys that are in frequent contact with humans, and other effective measures to prevent potential circulation and transmission of viruses. Avoidance of false positives and sampling bias should also be a focus in future work.
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Project description:Wildlife health assessments help identify populations at risk of starvation, disease, and decline from anthropogenic impacts on natural habitats. We conducted an overview of available health assessment studies in noncaptive vertebrates and devised a framework to strategically integrate health assessments in population monitoring. Using a systematic approach, we performed a thorough assessment of studies examining multiple health parameters of noncaptive vertebrate species from 1982 to 2020 (n = 261 studies). We quantified trends in study design and diagnostic methods across taxa with generalized linear models, bibliometric analyses, and visual representations of study location versus biodiversity hotspots. Only 35% of studies involved international or cross-border collaboration. Countries with both high and threatened biodiversity were greatly underrepresented. Species that were not listed as threatened on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List represented 49% of assessed species, a trend likely associated with the regional focus of most studies. We strongly suggest following wildlife health assessment protocols when planning a study and using statistically adequate sample sizes for studies establishing reference ranges. Across all taxa blood analysis (89%), body composition assessments (81%), physical examination (72%), and fecal analyses (24% of studies) were the most common methods. A conceptual framework to improve design and standardize wildlife health assessments includes guidelines on the experimental design, data acquisition and analysis, and species conservation planning and management implications. Integrating a physiological and ecological understanding of species resilience toward threatening processes will enable informed decision making regarding the conservation of threatened species.
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Project description:Wildlife that exploit human-made habitats hosts and spreads bacterial pathogens. This shapes the epidemiology of infectious diseases and facilitates pathogen spill-over between wildlife and humans. This is a global problem, yet little is known about the dissemination potential of pathogen-infected animals. By combining molecular pathogen diagnosis with GPS tracking of pathogen-infected gulls, we show how this knowledge gap could be filled at regional scales. Specifically, we generated pathogen risk maps of Salmonella, Campylobacter and Chlamydia based on the spatial movements of pathogen-infected yellow-legged gulls (Larus michahellis) equipped with GPS recorders. Also, crossing this spatial information with habitat information, we identified critical habitats for the potential transmission of these bacteria in southern Europe. The use of human-made habitats by infected-gulls could potentially increase the potential risk of direct and indirect bidirectional transmission of pathogens between humans and wildlife. Our findings show that pathogen-infected wildlife equipped with GPS recorders can provide accurate information on the spatial spread risk for zoonotic bacteria. Integration of GPS-tracking with classical epidemiological approaches may help to improve zoonosis surveillance and control programs.
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Project description:The Asian countries chronically infected with avian influenza A H5N1 are 'global hotspots' for biodiversity conservation in terms of species diversity, endemism and levels of threat. Since 2003, avian influenza A H5N1 viruses have naturally infected and killed a range of wild bird species, four felid species and a mustelid. Here, we report fatal disseminated H5N1 infection in a globally threatened viverrid, the Owston's civet, in Vietnam, highlighting the risk that avian influenza H5N1 poses to mammalian and avian biodiversity across its expanding geographic range.
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Project description:Habitat loss and deterioration represent the main threats to wildlife species, and are closely linked to the expansion of roads and human settlements. Unfortunately, large-scale effects of these structures remain generally overlooked. Here, we analyzed the European transportation infrastructure network and found that 50% of the continent is within 1.5 km of transportation infrastructure. We present a method for assessing the impacts from infrastructure on wildlife, based on functional response curves describing density reductions in birds and mammals (e.g., road-effect zones), and apply it to Spain as a case study. The imprint of infrastructure extends over most of the country (55.5% in the case of birds and 97.9% for mammals), with moderate declines predicted for birds (22.6% of individuals) and severe declines predicted for mammals (46.6%). Despite certain limitations, we suggest the approach proposed is widely applicable to the evaluation of effects of planned infrastructure developments under multiple scenarios, and propose an internationally coordinated strategy to update and improve it in the future.
| S-EPMC4968732 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Human-wildlife conflicts restrict conservation efforts, especially for wide-ranging animals whose home ranges overlap with human activities. We conducted a study to understand conflicts with, and factors influencing the perceived value of an expanding population of onagers (Equus hemionus onager) in local communities in southern Iran. We asked about locals' perceptions of six potential management strategies intended to lessen human-onager conflict. We found that human-onager conflict was restricted to 45% of respondents within the Bahram-e-Goor Protected Area, all of whom were involved in farming or herding activities. Locals within the protected area were more knowledgeable about onagers and valued onagers more than those living outside the protected area. The perceived value of onagers increased with level of education, total annual income, and perceptions of onager population trends; the perceived value of onagers decreased with the magnitude of conflict between onagers and locals. To tolerate or avoid conflicts with onagers, locals were supportive of monetary compensation and changing from a traditional lifestyle to industrialized farming (for farmers) or livestock production (for herders) with the help of government; locals did not support selling land to the government. Our study is among the first in human-wildlife conflict and local attitudes towards an endangered species and its recovery in Iran. We conclude that current levels of human-onager conflict are relatively low and perceived value of onagers is still relatively high. Therefore, wildlife authorities should consider the development of mitigation strategies with local communities before conflicts intensify.
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Project description:This paper reviews concepts and methods for the economic valuation of nature in the context of wildlife conservation and questions them in light of alternative approaches based on deliberation. Economic valuations have been used to set priorities, consider opportunity costs, assess co-benefits of conservation, support the case for conservation in public awareness and advocacy, and drive novel schemes to change incentives. We discuss the foundational principles of mainstream economic valuation in terms of its assumptions about values, markets, and human behaviour; propose a list of valuation studies in relation to wildlife protection; and explain the methods used. We then review critiques of these approaches focusing on the narrow way in which economics conceives of values, and institutional, power, and equity concerns. Finally, we complement conventional approaches commonly used for wildlife valuation with two forms of deliberative valuation: deliberated preferences and deliberative democratic monetary valuation. These are discussed in terms of their potential to address the drawbacks of mainstream economics and to realise the potential of valuation in bridging conservation of nature for its own sake and its important contributions to human well-being.Supplementary informationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10344-023-01658-2.
| S-EPMC9999082 | biostudies-literature
Project description:To assess the conduct of delivery of public health services at the municipal level in Denmark by applying services enlisted in the Essential Public Health Operation framework (EPHO) of WHO. We conducted individual qualitative interviews with key informants working with public health using a self-assessment survey tool in order to obtain an in-depth understanding of the interrelation or multidisciplinary work in Kolding Municipality. The developed self-assessment survey tool entailed questions about essential public health activities performed in a municipality. The Municipality organizes and contributes to core service delivery EPHOs, namely health protection, health promotion, and disease prevention. It collaborates with the general practitioners and the Region of Southern Denmark, responsible for hospital care, to fulfill the selected EPHOs. To obtain a comprehensive picture of the organizations that deliver public health services within a municipality, it is necessary to conduct interviews with representatives from those organizations as well. Additionally, the results from this study can be used to improve the survey tool further and hereafter conduct a nationwide survey in Denmark, as well as other European countries.
| S-EPMC7503537 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Wildlife conservation is facing numerous and mounting challenges on private and communal lands in Africa, including in Kenya. We analyze the population dynamics of 44 common wildlife species in relation to rainfall variation in the Nakuru Wildlife Conservancy (NWC), located in the Nakuru-Naivasha region of Kenya, based on ground total counts carried out twice each year from March 1996 to May 2015. Rainfall in the region was quasi-periodic with cycle periods dependent on the rainfall component and varying from 2.8 years for the dry season to 10.9 years for the wet season. These oscillations are associated with frequent severe droughts and food scarcity for herbivores. The trends for the 44 wildlife species showed five general patterns during 1996-2015. 1) Steinbuck, bushbuck, hartebeest and greater kudu numbers declined persistently and significantly throughout 1996-2015 and thus merit the greatest conservation attention. 2) Klipspringer, mongoose, oribi, porcupine, cheetah, leopard, ostrich and Sykes monkey numbers also decreased noticeably but not significantly between 1996 and 2015. 3) Dik dik, eland, African hare, Jackal, duiker, hippo and Thomson's gazelle numbers first increased and then declined between 1996 and 2015 but only significantly for duiker and hippo. 4) Aardvark, serval cat, colobus monkey, bat-eared fox, reedbuck, hyena and baboon numbers first declined and then increased but only the increases in reedbuck and baboon numbers were significant. 5) Grant's gazelle, Grevy's zebra, lion, spring hare, Burchell's zebra, bushpig, white rhino, rock hyrax, topi, oryx, vervet monkey, guinea fowl, giraffe, and wildebeest numbers increased consistently between 1996 and 2015. The increase was significant only for rock hyrax, topi, vervet monkey, guinea fowl, giraffe and wildebeest. 6) Impala, buffalo, warthog, and waterbuck, numbers increased significantly and then seemed to level off between 1996 and 2015. The aggregate biomass of primates and carnivores increased overall whereas that of herbivores first increased from 1996 to 2006 and then levelled off thereafter. Aggregate herbivore biomass increased linearly with increasing cumulative wet season rainfall. The densities of the 30 most abundant species were either strongly positively or negatively correlated with cumulative past rainfall, most commonly with the early wet season component. The collaborative wildlife conservation and management initiatives undertaken on the mosaic of private, communal and public lands were thus associated with increase or no decrease in numbers of 32 and decrease in numbers of 12 of the 44 species. Despite the decline by some species, effective community-based conservation is central to the future of wildlife in the NWC and other rangelands of Kenya and beyond and is crucially dependent on the good will, effective engagement and collective action of local communities, working in partnerships with various organizations, which, in NWC, operated under the umbrella of the Nakuru Wildlife Forum.
| S-EPMC5245813 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundHuman-wildlife conflict (HWC) is forecasted to increase globally in the vicinity of protected areas and covers various dimensions. It occurs in several different contexts and involves a range of animal taxonomic groups where the needs and requirements intersect with humans' needs and development. More often, human-monkey conflict occurs in developing countries and is amongst the main threats to biodiversity conservation in these regions. Grivet monkeys are slender agile monkeys of the genus Cercopithecus. This study was conducted to investigate the status of human grivet monkey conflict and the attitude of local communities towards grivet monkey conservation in and around Wof-Washa Natural State Forest (WWNSF), Ethiopia from September 2017 to May 2018. A questionnaire survey (143 respondents) was used to study the human-grivet monkey conflict and its conservation status.ResultsThe majority of respondents (male = 67.1%; female = 74.1%) were not supporting grivet monkey conservation due to the troublesome crop-damaging effect of the animal. Respondents having settlements/farmland nearer to the forest have significantly negative perceptions towards grivet monkey conservation than those far from it. The majority of respondents opined that eradication/relocation of grivet monkeys and financial compensation are the options to mitigate human-grivet monkey conflict. Based on the questionnaire result, 42.5 ± SD 8.68 of respondents in all villages elucidated that the main cause of crop damage by grivet monkeys was habitat degradation.ConclusionIn the study area, Human-Grivet Monkey Conflict (HGMC) is exacerbated by the encroachment of local communities into the forest area, exploitation of resources that would be used by grivet monkeys, and enhanced crop damage by grivet monkeys. As a result grivet monkeys have been persecuted as a consequence of crop damage. This was due to the negative attitude developed from human perspective. Thus, awareness creation education programs and feasible crop damage prevention techniques need to be implemented.
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