title: ESTIMATING TOXOPLASMA GONDII EXPOSURE IN ARCTIC FOXES (VULPES LAGOPUS) WHILE NAVIGATING THE IMPERFECT WORLD OF WILDLIFE SEROLOGY.
abstract: Although the protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii is ubiquitous in birds and mammals worldwide, the full suite of hosts and transmission routes is not completely understood, especially in the Arctic. Toxoplasma gondii occurrence in humans and wildlife can be high in Arctic regions, despite apparently limited opportunities for transmission of oocysts shed by felid definitive hosts. Arctic foxes (Vulpes lagopus) are under increasing anthropogenic and ecologic pressure, leading to population declines in parts of their range. Our understanding of T. gondii occurrence in arctic foxes is limited to only a few regions, but mortality events caused by this parasite have been reported. We investigated the exposure of arctic foxes to T. gondii in the Karrak Lake goose colony, Queen Maud Gulf Migratory Bird Sanctuary, Nunavut, Canada. Following an occupancy-modeling framework, we performed replicated antibody testing on serum samples by direct agglutination test (DAT), indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT), and an indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) that can be used in multiple mammalian host species. As a metric of test performance, we then estimated the probability of detecting T. gondii antibodies for each of the tests. Occupancy estimates for T. gondii antibodies in arctic foxes under this framework were between 0.430 and 0.758. Detection probability was highest for IFAT (0.716) and lower for DAT (0.611) and ELISA (0.464), indicating that the test of choice for antibody detection in arctic foxes might be the IFAT. We document a new geographic record of T. gondii exposure in arctic foxes and demonstrate an emerging application of ecologic modeling techniques to account for imperfect performance of diagnostic tests in wildlife species.
authors.affiliation: 1  University of Saskatchewan, Department of Veterinary Microbiology, 52 Campus Drive, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7N 5B4, Canada.|5  Colorado State University, Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology, 1474 Campus Delivery, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523-1474, USA.
authors.forename: Stacey A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Elmore
authors.affiliation: 2  Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Ecology, Grimsö Wildlife Research Station, Riddarhyttan SE-730 91, Sweden.|3  Snow Leopard Trust, 4649 Sunnyside Avenue N, Suite 325, Seattle, Washington 98103, USA.
authors.forename: Gustaf
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Samelius
authors.affiliation: 4  Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Centre for Foodborne and Animal Parasitology, 116 Veterinary Road, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7N 2R3, Canada.
authors.forename: Batol
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Al-Adhami
authors.affiliation: 5  Colorado State University, Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology, 1474 Campus Delivery, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523-1474, USA.
authors.forename: Kathryn P
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Huyvaert
authors.affiliation: 5  Colorado State University, Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology, 1474 Campus Delivery, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523-1474, USA.
authors.forename: Larissa L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Bailey
authors.affiliation: 6  Environment Canada, Prairie and Northern Wildlife Research Centre, 115 Perimeter Road, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7N 0X4, Canada.
authors.forename: Ray T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Alisauskas
authors.affiliation: 4  Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Centre for Foodborne and Animal Parasitology, 116 Veterinary Road, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7N 2R3, Canada.
authors.forename: Alvin A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Gajadhar
authors.affiliation: 1  University of Saskatchewan, Department of Veterinary Microbiology, 52 Campus Drive, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7N 5B4, Canada.
authors.forename: Emily J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Jenkins
mesh_terms: D000372:Agglutination Tests / Q000662:veterinary; D000818:Animals; D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan / Q000097:blood*; D001110:Arctic Regions / Q000453:epidemiology; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000662:veterinary; D005260:Female; D019084:Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Indirect / Q000662:veterinary; D005589:Foxes / Q000469:parasitology*; D008297:Male; D008954:Models, Biological; D020957:Nunavut / Q000453:epidemiology; D014122:Toxoplasma / Q000276:immunology*; D014124:Toxoplasmosis, Animal / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan
keywords: Arctic fox; DAT; ELISA; IFAT; Karrak Lake; MAT; Toxoplasma; occupancy modeling