ena-STUDY-UTRECHT UNIVERSITY-24-01-2017-14:46:00:276-88
Pathological findings in wild terrestrial carnivores with special emphasis on infectious and zoonotic agents in Northern Germany
The worldwide growing human population, increased industrialization and anthropogenic landscape changes contributed to the reduction of availability of habitats to wild animals. Hence, the presence of wild terrestrial carnivores (eg. red fox, stone marten, raccoon dog) in urban and peri-urban sights has increased considerably over the years. Consequences of urbanization can imply an increased risk of interspecies spillover of infectious diseases and the transmission of zoonoses. The present study provides a detailed characterization of the current health status of wildlife predators with focus on (i) potential zoonotic diseases and (ii) infectious diseases that are potentially threatening other wildlife or domestic animal species. 79 foxes, 17 stone martens and 10 raccoon dogs were collected from traps or hunts. In order to detect morphological changes and potential infectious diseases, necropsy and pathohistological work up was performed followed by immunohistochemistry (IHC) to detect infectious disease including canine distemper virus, influenza A virus, parvovirus, feline leukemia virus, Borna disease virus, tick-borne encephalitis and Toxoplasma gondii. Moreover, immunofluorescence, next-generation sequencing (NGS) and virus-neutralization analysis were performed. The most important findings included encephalitis (n=16) and pneumonia (n=20). None of the investigations revealed a specific cause for the observed morphological alterations. Only one animal showed an elevated serum titer of 1:160 for canine distemper. Among the examined animals, 36 foxes, 6 raccoon dogs and 4 stone martens displayed macroscopically and/or histopathologically detectable infections with parasites, including Taenia sp., Toxocara sp. and Alaria alata. In summary, wildlife predators carry zoonotic parasitic disease and suffer from inflammatory diseases of yet unknown etiology, possibly bearing infectious potential for other animal species and humans. This study highlights the necessity of monitoring terrestrial wildlife following the “One Health” notion, to estimate the possible spread of zoonotic pathogens and to avoid animal to animal spillover as well as transmission to humans.
The worldwide growing human population, increased industrialization and anthropogenic landscape changes contributed to the reduction of availability of habitats to wild animals. Hence, the presence of wild terrestrial carnivores (eg. red fox, stone marten, raccoon dog) in urban and peri-urban sights has increased considerably over the years. Consequences of urbanization can imply an increased risk of interspecies spillover of infectious diseases and the transmission of zoonoses. The present study provides a detailed characterization of the current health status of wildlife predators with focus on (i) potential zoonotic diseases and (ii) infectious diseases that are potentially threatening other wildlife or domestic animal species. 79 foxes, 17 stone martens and 10 raccoon dogs were collected from traps or hunts. In order to detect morphological changes and potential infectious diseases, necropsy and pathohistological work up was performed followed by immunohistochemistry (IHC) to detect infectious disease including canine distemper virus, influenza A virus, parvovirus, feline leukemia virus, Borna disease virus, tick-borne encephalitis and Toxoplasma gondii. Moreover, immunofluorescence, next-generation sequencing (NGS) and virus-neutralization analysis were performed. The most important findings included encephalitis (n=16) and pneumonia (n=20). None of the investigations revealed a specific cause for the observed morphological alterations. Only one animal showed an elevated serum titer of 1:160 for canine distemper. Among the examined animals, 36 foxes, 6 raccoon dogs and 4 stone martens displayed macroscopically and/or histopathologically detectable infections with parasites, including Taenia sp., Toxocara sp. and Alaria alata. In summary, wildlife predators carry zoonotic parasitic disease and suffer from inflammatory diseases of yet unknown etiology, possibly bearing infectious potential for other animal species and humans. This study highlights the necessity of monitoring terrestrial wildlife following the “One Health” notion, to estimate the possible spread of zoonotic pathogens and to avoid animal to animal spillover as well as transmission to humans.