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The Journal of Animal Ecology Sep 2022Many pathogens of public health and conservation concern persist in host communities. Identifying candidate maintenance and reservoir species is therefore a central... (Review)
Review
Many pathogens of public health and conservation concern persist in host communities. Identifying candidate maintenance and reservoir species is therefore a central component of disease management. The term maintenance species implies that if all species but the putative maintenance species were removed, then the pathogen would still persist. In the absence of field manipulations, this statement inherently requires a causal or mechanistic model to assess. However, we lack a systematic understanding of (i) how often conclusions are made about maintenance and reservoir species without reference to mechanistic models (ii) what types of biases may be associated with these conclusions and (iii) how explicitly invoking causal or mechanistic modelling can help ameliorate these biases. Filling these knowledge gaps is critical for robust inference about pathogen persistence and spillover in multihost-parasite systems, with clear implications for human and wildlife health. To address these gaps, we performed a literature review on the evidence previous studies have used to make claims regarding maintenance or reservoir species. We then developed multihost-parasite models to explore and demonstrate common biases that could arise when inferring maintenance potential from observational prevalence data. Finally, we developed new theory to show how model-driven inference of maintenance species can minimize and eliminate emergent biases. In our review, we found that 83% of studies used some form of observational prevalence data to draw conclusions on maintenance potential and only 6% of these studies combined observational data with mechanistic modelling. Using our model, we demonstrate how the community, spatial and temporal context of observational data can lead to substantial biases in inferences of maintenance potential. Importantly, our theory identifies that model-driven inference of maintenance species elucidates other streams of observational data that can be leveraged to correct these biases. Model-driven inference is an essential, yet underused, component of multidisciplinary studies that make inference about host reservoir and maintenance species. Better integration of wildlife disease surveillance and mechanistic models is necessary to improve the robustness and reproducibility of our conclusions regarding maintenance and reservoir species.
Topics: Animals; Animals, Wild; Disease Reservoirs; Humans; Prevalence; Reproducibility of Results
PubMed: 35838341
DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13774 -
Veterinary Parasitology Feb 2018Leishmania infantum is a vector-borne zoonotic disease transmitted by phlebotomine sand flies and dogs are considered the main reservoir of the parasite. Feline... (Review)
Review
Leishmania infantum is a vector-borne zoonotic disease transmitted by phlebotomine sand flies and dogs are considered the main reservoir of the parasite. Feline leishmaniosis (FeL) caused by L. infantum is an emergent feline disease more and more frequently reported in endemic areas. This review summarizes current knowledge focusing similarities and differences with canine leishmaniosis (CanL). Cats are infected by the same Leishmania species than dogs but prevalence of the infection is lower and cases of disease are less frequently reported. Scarce information is available on adaptive immune response of cats naturally exposed to L. infantum infection and mechanisms responsible for susceptibility or resistance of feline hosts. However, about half of clinical cases of FeL are reported in cats with possible impaired immunocompetence. Coinfections or comorbidities are frequently detected in sick cats and they can contribute to a misrepresentation of clinical FeL albeit lesions associated with the presence of the parasite have been detected in skin, lymph nodes, spleen, bone marrow, liver, oral mucosa, stomach, large bowel, kidney, nasal exudate, lung, eye. As for dogs, skin or mucocutaneous lesions are the most common reason for veterinary consultation and finding on physical examination in cats with leishmaniosis. Molecular investigations of Leishmania DNA and anti- Leishmania antibody detection are largely used with the same methodologies for both CanL and FeL, however few information is available about their diagnostic performance in feline hosts. Treatment of cats with clinical FeL is still empirically based and off label by using the most common drugs prescribed to dogs. Life expectancy of cats with clinical FeL is usually good unless concurrent conditions or complications occur and prognosis does not seem significantly influenced by therapy or retroviral coinfection. According to current knowledge, cats can play a role as additional reservoir host of L. infantum and, in a « One Health » perspective, preventative measures should be taken. In conclusion, albeit feline infection and the associated cat disease caused by L. infantum is increasingly reported in endemic areas and have many similarities with CanL, consolidated evidence-based knowledge is not available and we cannot exclude that important differences between dogs and cats exist about transmission, immunopathogenesis and best practice for management and prevention.
Topics: Animals; Antibodies, Protozoan; Cat Diseases; Cats; Disease Reservoirs; Dog Diseases; Dogs; Leishmania infantum; Leishmaniasis, Visceral
PubMed: 29426470
DOI: 10.1016/j.vetpar.2018.01.012 -
Journal of Immunology (Baltimore, Md. :... Oct 2023Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is a zoonotic bacterial disease presenting public health, veterinary, and economic threats around the globe. Although cattle producers rely on... (Review)
Review
Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is a zoonotic bacterial disease presenting public health, veterinary, and economic threats around the globe. Although cattle producers rely on regular testing and management practices to minimize domestic herd exposure, wildlife species around the world continue to be the main reservoirs for disease. Wildlife reservoirs for bTB include the Eurasian badger (Meles meles) in Great Britain and Ireland, the brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) in New Zealand, wild boar (Sus scrofa) in Spain, as well as white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in the United States and red deer (Cervus elaphus) in Spain. Although all reservoir species share the ability to infect cattle, they differ in transmission capability, disease pathogenesis, diagnostic detection, and vaccination strategies. In this review, bTB interactions with these wildlife reservoirs are discussed, illustrating the need to address bTB disease in wildlife hosts to achieve eradication in domestic livestock.
Topics: Cattle; Animals; Mycobacterium bovis; Animals, Wild; Deer; Disease Reservoirs; Tuberculosis, Bovine
PubMed: 37782851
DOI: 10.4049/jimmunol.2300323 -
Transboundary and Emerging Diseases Jul 2022The incidence of bovine tuberculosis (TB, caused by Mycobacterium bovis) in cattle has been associated with TB in badgers (Meles meles) in parts of England. The aim was...
The incidence of bovine tuberculosis (TB, caused by Mycobacterium bovis) in cattle has been associated with TB in badgers (Meles meles) in parts of England. The aim was to identify badger-associated M. bovis reservoirs in the Edge Area, between the High- and Low-Risk Areas for cattle TB. Data from badger TB surveys were sparse. Therefore, a definition for a local M. bovis reservoir potentially shared by cattle and badgers was developed using cattle TB surveillance data. The performance of the definition was estimated through Latent Class Analysis using badger TB survey data. Spatial units (25 km ) in the Edge Area were classified as having a reservoir if they had (i) at least one TB incident in at least three of the previous 7 years, (ii) at least one TB incident in a cattle herd confirmed by post-mortem tests as due to M. bovis infection and not attributable to cattle movements in the previous 2 years and (iii) more confirmed TB incidents than un-confirmed in the previous 2 years. Approximately 20% of the Edge Area was classified as having a local M. bovis reservoir using the cattle-based definition. Assuming 15% TB prevalence in Edge Area badgers, sensitivity for the local M. bovis reservoir definition varied from 25.7% [95% credible interval (CrI): 10.7%-85.1%] to 64.8% (95% CrI: 48.1%-88.0%). Specificity was 91.9% (CrI: 83.6%-97.4%). Over 90% of the local reservoir was in stable endemic TB areas identified through previous work and its spatial distribution was largely consistent with local veterinary knowledge. Uncertainty in the reservoir spatial distribution was explored through its recalculation in spatial units shifted in different directions. We recommend that the definition is re-evaluated as further data on badger infection with M. bovis become available.
Topics: Animals; Cattle; Cattle Diseases; Disease Reservoirs; Incidence; Mustelidae; Mycobacterium bovis; Prevalence; Tuberculosis, Bovine
PubMed: 34333857
DOI: 10.1111/tbed.14272 -
Vector Borne and Zoonotic Diseases... 2005The fluctuations in abundance of a wildlife reservoir are an attractive explanation for temporal variation in primary human cases of a zoonosis. This is because high... (Review)
Review
The fluctuations in abundance of a wildlife reservoir are an attractive explanation for temporal variation in primary human cases of a zoonosis. This is because high abundance may lead to more contact between humans and animals, but also to outbreaks of disease within the reservoir population. We propose a mathematical framework that sets out the consequences of correlation between reservoir abundance and reservoir prevalence for how numbers of human cases are related to reservoir abundance. The fluctuations of rodent populations are well studied and often dramatic. A review of field studies of rodent reservoirs for plague, hantaviruses, and other zoonoses shows that, at a seasonal time scale, a positive correlation between host abundance and host prevalence is rarely observed. More commonly, there is an inverse relationship or negative correlation such that a seasonal increase in rodent abundance is not accompanied by a corresponding increase in the abundance of infectious animals. Seasonal changes in rodent abundance are hence unlikely to fully explain seasonal variation in primary human cases. The few longer field studies (>5 years) show a positive but delayed relationship between reservoir abundance and reservoir prevalence.
Topics: Animals; Animals, Wild; Disease Reservoirs; Humans; Mice; Models, Biological; Population Density; Population Dynamics; Prevalence; Rats; Risk Factors; Rodent Diseases; Rodentia; Seasons; Zoonoses
PubMed: 16417426
DOI: 10.1089/vbz.2005.5.305 -
Journal of Veterinary Emergency and... Feb 2010To provide a review of clinically relevant observations related to Bartonella species as emerging pathogens in veterinary and human medicine. (Review)
Review
OBJECTIVE
To provide a review of clinically relevant observations related to Bartonella species as emerging pathogens in veterinary and human medicine.
DATA SOURCES
Literature as cited in PubMed and as generated by each of the authors who have contributed to various aspects of the clinical understanding of bartonellosis.
HUMAN DATA SYNTHESIS
Important historical and recent publications illustrating the evolving role of animal reservoirs as a source of human infection.
VETERINARY DATA SYNTHESIS
Comprehensive review of the veterinary literature.
CONCLUSIONS
In addition to inducing life-threatening illnesses, such as endocarditis, myocarditis, and meningoencephalitis and contributing to chronic debilitating disease, such as arthritis, osteomyelitis, and granulomatous inflammation in cats, dogs, and potentially other animal species; pets and wildlife species can serve as persistently infected reservoir hosts for the transmission of Bartonella spp. infection to veterinary professionals and others with direct animal contact.
Topics: Animals; Animals, Domestic; Animals, Wild; Bartonella Infections; Cats; Communicable Diseases, Emerging; Disease Reservoirs; Dogs; Humans; Occupational Diseases; Species Specificity; Zoonoses
PubMed: 20230432
DOI: 10.1111/j.1476-4431.2009.00496.x -
Emerging Infectious Diseases Feb 2018Plague ecology is characterized by sporadic epizootics, then periods of dormancy. Building evidence suggests environmentally ubiquitous amebae act as feral macrophages...
Plague ecology is characterized by sporadic epizootics, then periods of dormancy. Building evidence suggests environmentally ubiquitous amebae act as feral macrophages and hosts to many intracellular pathogens. We conducted environmental genetic surveys and laboratory co-culture infection experiments to assess whether plague bacteria were resistant to digestion by 5 environmental ameba species. First, we demonstrated that Yersinia pestis is resistant or transiently resistant to various ameba species. Second, we showed that Y. pestis survives and replicates intracellularly within Dictyostelium discoideum amebae for ˃48 hours postinfection, whereas control bacteria were destroyed in <1 hour. Finally, we found that Y. pestis resides within ameba structures synonymous with those found in infected human macrophages, for which Y. pestis is a competent pathogen. Evidence supporting amebae as potential plague reservoirs stresses the importance of recognizing pathogen-harboring amebae as threats to public health, agriculture, conservation, and biodefense.
Topics: Animals; Coculture Techniques; Dictyostelium; Disease Reservoirs; Sciuridae; Soil; Species Specificity; Yersinia pestis
PubMed: 29350155
DOI: 10.3201/eid2402.171065 -
Bulletin of the World Health... Sep 2007Uganda’s rapid response to the recent fatal Marburg haemorrhagic fever outbreak not only stopped the spread in its tracks, but also raised hopes the discovery of the...
Uganda’s rapid response to the recent fatal Marburg haemorrhagic fever outbreak not only stopped the spread in its tracks, but also raised hopes the discovery of the disease’s reservoir, possibly in a bat-infested jungle mine.
Topics: Animals; Chiroptera; Disease Reservoirs; Humans; Marburg Virus Disease; Mining; Uganda
PubMed: 18026617
DOI: 10.2471/blt.07.020907 -
Trends in Ecology & Evolution Dec 2020Most efforts to predict novel reservoirs of zoonotic pathogens use information about host exposure and infection rather than competence, defined as the ability to...
Most efforts to predict novel reservoirs of zoonotic pathogens use information about host exposure and infection rather than competence, defined as the ability to transmit pathogens. Better obtaining and integrating competence data into statistical models as covariates, as the response variable, and through postmodel validation should improve predictive research.
Topics: Animals; Disease Reservoirs; Zoonoses
PubMed: 32921517
DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2020.08.014 -
Veterinary Journal (London, England :... May 2008There has been a worldwide increase in the number and geographical spread of wild boar populations in recent decades leading to an increase in both the circulation of... (Review)
Review
There has been a worldwide increase in the number and geographical spread of wild boar populations in recent decades leading to an increase in both the circulation of disease agents and greater contact with domestic animals and humans. Diseases affect the population dynamics of wildlife but the effects of most viral diseases on the European wild boar are largely unknown. Many viral diseases present in domestic pig populations are also present in wild boars where they can provide a disease reservoir, as is clearly the case with classical swine fever, but little is known about other viral diseases such as porcine circovirus diseases or hepatitis E. This review considers the current scientific knowledge of the effects of viral diseases on wild boar populations and their rôle as potential disease reservoirs. The focus is on those viral diseases of domestic swine and wild boars that are included as notifiable by the Office International des Epizooties (OIE).
Topics: Animals; Disease Reservoirs; Female; Male; Population Dynamics; Sus scrofa; Swine Diseases; Virus Diseases
PubMed: 17420149
DOI: 10.1016/j.tvjl.2007.02.017