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Animals
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Eco-Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases in Wild Ungulates
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Eco-Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases in Wild Ungulates

A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Wildlife".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 10 February 2025 | Viewed by 3529

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Rita Tinoco Torres

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Biology & CESAM, University of Aveiro, Campus de Santiago, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
Interests: wildlife ecology and management; reintroduction biology; role of ungulates as disease reservoirs; wildlife monitoring; landscape ecology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Ana Manuel Figueiredo

E-Mail Website
Co-Guest Editor
Department of Biology & CESAM, University of Aveiro, Campus de Santiago, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
Interests: One Health; wildlife zoonoses; veterinary parasitology; wildlife genetics; conservation medicine; wildlife ecology and management; wildlife conservation and management

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Wild ungulates are reservoirs of zoonotic diseases and can be used as strategic sentinel species in terrestrial environments, providing early warning of potential risks to human, animal and environmental health. They have been used as bioindicators of some infectious diseases since they i) are ubiquitous, ii) have been increasing in number and geographical range, iii) have considerably large home ranges, iv) are widely hunted, being a source of food-borne diseases, and v) overlap their habitat and distribution area with livestock and humans, serving as a link between human-influenced settings and natural areas, enhancing disease spillover between the wildlife–livestock–human counterparts.

The pressing challenges of infectious and zoonotic diseases in ungulates (e.g., African swine fever in wild boar across Europe) demand an integrated framework that goes beyond the traditional analytical methods of analysis to include an ecological perspective. Understanding how environmental and socioeconomic factors can affect the epidemiology and dynamics of pathogens at an individual, local and regional level is an important step towards the sustainable control of infectious diseases.

This Special Issue aims to present recent research and reviews on the implications and dynamics of wildlife–human interactions, exploring the role that wild ungulates play in the emergence, maintenance, and dispersal of infectious diseases under the One Health framework in order to stimulate interest, understanding, and exploration of this important subject.

Dr. Rita Tinoco Torres
Dr. Ana Manuel Figueiredo
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Animals is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • wild ungulates
  • wildlife
  • public health
  • infectious diseases
  • zoonoses
  • pathogens
  • epidemiology
  • One Health

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 10259 KiB  
Article
Assessing Fecal Microbial Diversity and Hormone Levels as Indicators of Gastrointestinal Health in Reintroduced Przewalski’s Horses (Equus ferus przewalskii)
by Zhenghao Li, Zhengwei Luo and Defu Hu
Animals 2024, 14(17), 2616; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14172616 - 9 Sep 2024
Viewed by 766
Abstract
Diarrhea serves as a vital health indicator for assessing wildlife populations post-reintroduction. Upon release into the wild, wild animals undergo adaptation to diverse habitats and dietary patterns. While such changes prompt adaptive responses in the fecal microbiota, they also render these animals susceptible [...] Read more.
Diarrhea serves as a vital health indicator for assessing wildlife populations post-reintroduction. Upon release into the wild, wild animals undergo adaptation to diverse habitats and dietary patterns. While such changes prompt adaptive responses in the fecal microbiota, they also render these animals susceptible to gastrointestinal diseases, particularly diarrhea. This study investigates variations in fecal microorganisms and hormone levels between diarrhea-afflicted and healthy Przewalski’s horses. The results demonstrate a significant reduction in the alpha diversity of the fecal bacterial community among diarrheal Przewalski’s horses, accompanied by notable alterations in taxonomic composition. Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, and Bacteroidetes emerge as dominant phyla across all fecal samples, irrespective of health status. However, discernible differences in fecal bacterial abundance are observed between healthy and diarrhea-stricken individuals at the genus level, specifically, a diminished relative abundance of Pseudobutyrivibrio is observed. The majority of the bacteria that facilitate the synthesis of short-chain fatty acids, Christensenellaceae_R_7_group (Christensenellaceae), NK4A214_group (Ruminococcus), Lachnospiraceae_XPB1014_group (Lachnospiraceae), [Eubacterium]_coprostanoligenes_group (Eubacterium), Rikenellaceae_RC9_gut_group, Lachnospiraceae_AC2044_group (Lachnospiraceae), and Prevotellaceae_UcG_001 (Prevotella) are noted in diarrhea-affected Przewalski’s horses, while Erysipelotrichaceae, Phoenicibacter, Candidatus_Saccharimonas (Salmonella), and Mogibacterium are present in significantly increased amounts. Moreover, levels of immunoglobulin IgA and cortisol are significantly elevated in the diarrhea group compared with the non-diarrhea group. Overall, this study underscores substantial shifts in fecal bacterial diversity, abundance, and hormone levels in Przewalski’s horses during episodes of diarrhea. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Eco-Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases in Wild Ungulates)
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10 pages, 2626 KiB  
Article
Zoonotic Tick-Borne Pathogens in Ticks from Vegetation and Alpine Ibex (Capra ibex) in the Maritime Alps, Italy
by Arianna Menzano, Paolo Tizzani, Marisa Diana Farber, Aitor Garcia-Vozmediano, Laura Martinelli, Luca Rossi and Laura Tomassone
Animals 2024, 14(15), 2251; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14152251 - 2 Aug 2024
Viewed by 666
Abstract
In the Maritime Alps (northwestern Italy), we collected ticks from vegetation and Alpine ibex (Capra ibex). Ixodes ricinus was the most abundant species in the study area, questing up to 1824 m a.s.l. and infesting 28 out of 72 ibexes. Haemaphysalis [...] Read more.
In the Maritime Alps (northwestern Italy), we collected ticks from vegetation and Alpine ibex (Capra ibex). Ixodes ricinus was the most abundant species in the study area, questing up to 1824 m a.s.l. and infesting 28 out of 72 ibexes. Haemaphysalis punctata, H. sulcata and Dermacentor marginatus were also collected. The abundance of questing ticks significantly decreased with altitude, with beechwoods being the preferred habitat. By PCR, we identified Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. in questing I. ricinus (28.3%; 95%CI: 19.4–38.6) but not in specimens collected from animals. Rickettsia spp. infected both questing (20.6%; 95%CI: 12.9–30.3) and on-host (30.2%; 95%CI: 21.2–40.4) I. ricinus. Anaplasma phagocytophilum was detected in 4.3% (95%CI: 1.2–10.8) of questing I. ricinus and in 45.3% (95%CI: 34.6–56.4) of I. ricinus collected from ibex. Female I. ricinus collected on animals were significantly more infected with A. phagocytophilum than females collected from vegetation (OR = 11.7; 95%CI: 3.8–48.1). By amplifying and sequencing a fragment of the groEL gene, we identified 13 groEL haplotypes, clustering with ecotypes I and II; ecotype I, prevalent in our sample, is considered zoonotic. Our study demonstrates the presence of different tick-borne zoonotic agents in the study area, encompassing a wide altitudinal range, as confirmed by the ticks found on ibex, a typical mountain-dwelling mammal. The results also confirm the altitudinal range expansion of ticks and associated pathogens in the Alps and suggest that Alpine ibex may act as a reservoir for A. phagocytophilum, as do other wild ungulate species. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Eco-Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases in Wild Ungulates)
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13 pages, 896 KiB  
Article
Diversity of Anaplasma phagocytophilum Strains from Roe Deer (Capreolus capreolus) and Red Deer (Cervus elaphus) in Poland
by Anna W. Myczka, Żaneta Steiner-Bogdaszewska, Grzegorz Oloś, Anna Bajer and Zdzisław Laskowski
Animals 2024, 14(4), 637; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14040637 - 16 Feb 2024
Viewed by 1418
Abstract
Background: The Gram-negative bacterium Anaplasma phagocytophilum is an intracellular pathogen and an etiological agent of human and animal anaplasmosis. Its natural reservoir comprises free-ranging ungulates, including roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) and red deer (Cervus elaphus). These two species of [...] Read more.
Background: The Gram-negative bacterium Anaplasma phagocytophilum is an intracellular pathogen and an etiological agent of human and animal anaplasmosis. Its natural reservoir comprises free-ranging ungulates, including roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) and red deer (Cervus elaphus). These two species of deer also constitute the largest group of game animals in Poland. The aim of the study was to genotype and perform a phylogenetic analysis of A. phagocytophilum strains from roe deer and red deer. Methods: Samples were subjected to PCR amplification, sequencing, and phylogenetic analysis of strain-specific genetic markers (groEL, ankA). Results: Five haplotypes of the groEL gene from A. phagocytophilum and seven haplotypes of ankA were obtained. The phylogenetic analysis classified the groEL into ecotypes I and II. Sequences of the ankA gene were classified into clusters I, II, and III. Conclusions: Strains of A. phagocytophilum from red deer were in the same ecotype and cluster as strains isolated from humans. Strains of A. phagocytophilum from roe deer represented ecotypes (I, II) and clusters (II, III) that were different from those isolated from red deer, and these strains did not show similarity to bacteria from humans. However, roe deer can harbor nonspecific strains of A. phagocytophilum more characteristic to red deer. It appears that the genetic variants from red deer can be pathogenic to humans, but the significance of the variants from roe deer requires more study. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Eco-Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases in Wild Ungulates)
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