Viviana Gonzalez-Astudillo

Decline causes of koalas in South East Queensland, Australia: a 17-year retrospective study of mortality and morbidity

Koala populations are in catastrophic decline in certain eastern Australian regions. Spanning from 1997–2013, a database derived from wildlife hospitals in southeast Queensland with N = 20,250 entries was classified by causes of morbidity and mortality. A total of 11 aetiologies were identified, with chlamydiosis, trauma, and wasting being most common. The clinical diagnosis at submission varied significantly over the observation period. Combinations of aetiologies were observed in 39% of koalas submitted, with chlamydiosis frequently co-occurring. Urogenital (cystitis 26.8%, bursitis 13.5%) and ocular (conjunctivitis 17.2%) chlamydiosis were the most frequently diagnosed representations of the infection. Approximately 26% of submissions comprised koalas involved in vehicle accidents that were otherwise healthy. Age and sex of the koala as well as season and submission period were compared for the case outcomes of ‘dead on arrival’, ‘euthanized’, or ‘released’ for the four most common clinical diagnoses using multinomial logistic regression models. Exploratory space-time permutation scans were performed and overlapping space-time clusters for chlamydiosis, motor vehicle traumas and wasting unveiled high risk areas for koala disease and injury. Our results suggest that these aetiologies are acting jointly as multifactorial determinants for the continuing decline of koalas.

Synanthropic Cockroaches (Blattidae: Periplaneta spp.) Harbor Pathogenic Leptospira in Colombia

Abstract Leptospirosis cases in Colombia are typically linked to peridomestic rodents; however, empirical data suggest that Leptospira-infected patients with no apparent exposure to these reservoirs are common. Cockroaches (Periplaneta spp.) have equal or greater interaction with humans than rodents, yet their potential role as carriers of Leptospira has not been assessed. We determined if pathogenic Leptospira is harbored by Periplaneta spp. in Cali (Colombia) and the variables influencing this relationship. Fifty-nine cockroaches were captured from seven sites and DNA was extracted from the body surface and digestive tract for a multiplex polymerase chain reaction, targeting genes secY and flaB. Logistic regression models and proportion tests showed a higher likelihood for Leptospira to be isolated from body surfaces (P > 0.001) and from individuals inside houses (six times more likely). These findings are the first to demonstrate an association between Periplaneta spp. and Leptospira, suggesting the need to investigate the potential for cockroaches to serve as reservoirs or transport hosts for Leptospira.

Current knowledge of studies of pathogens in Colombian mammals

Mammals provide an important ecological habitat or niche space to microbial diversity, protistans (or protozoans) and metazoan parasites that can have profound effects on both human and animal health. Thus, understanding the status of mammalian species as hosts for pathogens holds relevance, especially during this time of anthropogenic environmental change. Despite the great diversity in the mammal fauna of Colombia, data in the literature on the occurrence of parasites and pathogens in these mammals are scarce and widely scattered. In order to understand the state of the knowledge of pathogens carried by wild mammals in Colombia, a systematic review of the literature was conducted. Information from scientific studies compiled included taxonomic orders, pathogens, natural regions, publication data (format, language, and region), funding sources, and affiliation of principal investigators. A total of 187 research studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria for this review. A total of 69,059 wild mammals belonging to 260 species and 12 taxonomic orders were studied in Colombia between 1876 and 2014. The most commonly researched orders were Rodentia (72 studies, n=11,396 individuals sampled), Chiroptera (67 studies, n=52,166), Didelphimorphia (55 studies, n=2,447), and Primates (44 studies, n=1,831), whereas the least studied included Lagomorpha (9 studies, n=71), Paucituberculata (4 studies, n=32), and Soricomorpha (3 studies, n=3). No studies of pathogens of the Cetacea or Sirenia in the area of Colombia were found. The Andes natural region has been more extensively studied (53.7% of all studies conducted) compared to the rest of the country, and parasites have been the most extensively studied pathogen group, particularly the phyla Arthropoda and Platyhelminthes. Research funding was primarily provided by institutions in the United States. Similar numbers of studies were conducted by both private and public, national and foreign universities. This is the first systematic review of the literature focused on gathering all available data on pathogens in situ in Colombian mammals.

MORTALITY OF SELECTED AVIAN ORDERS SUBMITTED TO A WILDLIFE DIAGNOSTIC LABORATORY (SOUTHEASTERN COOPERATIVE WILDLIFE DISEASE STUDY, USA): A 36-YEAR RETROSPECTIVE ANALYSIS

Abstract To determine the relative importance of mortality factors for birds and to assess for patterns in avian mortality over time, we retrospectively examined data of birds submitted to the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study (SCWDS; http://vet.uga.edu/scwds), US, from 1976 to 2012. During this period, SCWDS, a wildlife diagnostic laboratory, received 2,583 wild bird specimens, from the taxonomic orders Apodiformes, Caprimulgiformes, Cuculiformes, Passeriformes, and Piciformes, originating from 22 states. Data from 2,001 of these birds were analyzed using log-linear models to explore correlations between causes of mortality, taxonomic family, demography, geographic location, and seasonality. Toxicosis was the major cause of mortality, followed by trauma, bacterial infection, physiologic stress, viral infection, and other (mortality causes with low sample numbers and etiologies inconsistent with established categories). Birds submitted during fall and winter had a higher frequency of parasitic infections, trauma, and toxicoses, whereas birds submitted during the spring and summer were more likely to die of an infectious disease, physiologic stress, or trauma. We noted a decrease in toxicoses concurrent with an increase in bacterial infections and trauma diagnoses after the mid-1990s. Toxicosis was the most commonly diagnosed cause of death among adult birds; the majority of juveniles died from physiologic stress, trauma, or viral infections. Infectious agents were diagnosed more often within the families Cardinalidae and Fringilidae, whereas noninfectious etiologies were the primary diagnoses in the Bombycillidae, Parulidae, Sturnidae, Turdidae, and Icteridae. There are important inherent limitations in the examination of data from diagnostic labs, as submission of cases varies in timing, frequency, location, and species and is often influenced by several factors, including media coverage of high-profile mortality events. Notwithstanding, our data provide a rare opportunity to examine long-term, regional, and temporal patterns in causes of avian mortality, and they allow for the analysis of novel and rare mortality factors.

Sarcoptic mange in wild quichua porcupines (Coendou quichua Thomas, 1899) in Colombia

The Quichua porcupine (Coendou quichua) is a neotropical rodent with uncertain taxonomic and conservation status. Two Quichua porcupines with severe hyperkeratosis and alopecia were found in the Magdalena River Basin of Colombia. Sarcoptes scabiei, the mite causing mange, a disease carried mainly by domestic animals, was confirmed via parasitological and molecular methods. This is the first report of mange in neotropical porcupines to date. The population-level impact of mange in Coendou spp., related mammals and predators in Colombia might represent a threat and needs further investigation.

News from the IAEH

Non-sustainable natural resource extraction has continued to heavily impact individual species and entire ecosystems. Exponential human population growth intensifies these anthropogenic pressures, facilitating more extensive overlap of humans, domestic animals, and wildlife. Despite this reality, the intimate connections among human, animal, and ecosystem health remain poorly understood. Thus, educating professionals with diverse backgrounds and promoting collaborative and transdisciplinary research activities will be vital in addressing current Ecohealth issues. Emerging Ecohealth challenges often arise more frequently than our ability to diagnose causes and make management decisions. For example, in the cases of avian vacuolar myelinopathy in waterfowl and raptors and whitenose syndrome in chiropterans, thousands of animals perished before we understood pathogenesis, morbidity, and causes of mortality. To address these issues, professionals from multiple disciplines are needed to confront current and future conservation challenges. The conventional methods used in epidemiological research, which treat outbreaks as isolated events and rarely link disease agents with environmental or animal sources, are insufficient. The need to account for complex host–pathogen interactions within altered ecosystems has led to Conservation Medicine which recognizes such interconnections. As Conservation Medicine calls for integrating ecology, conservation biology, and biomedical science, professionals involved in this field have acquired knowledge in spatial analysis, population dynamics, evolutionary biology, and epidemiology either through multiple degrees or empirical experience. If such training in the aforementioned fields was provided within undergraduate curricula, then emerging EcoHealth challenges could be approached more effectively and with a higher probability of success. Such exposure during the formative stage for future professionals would certainly provide tools for problem solving that would be essential later in professional practice and would help us combat the disciplinary preconceptions, hierarchical structures, and financial and time constrains that have stood in the way of truly transdisciplinary EcoHealth efforts. Currently, EcoHealth and Conservation Medicine training is taught in educational institutions as formal graduate-level degrees, through incorporating elective courses into curricula, and through dual-degree programs (e.g., MD/PhD, DVM/PhD, or DVM/MPH). In Europe and Latin America, veterinary degrees are obtained at the undergraduate level, exposing students early in their careers to Ecohealth subjects beyond the classical fields of biology or chemistry. However, in the U.S., undergraduate students can acquire exposure through both curricular and extracurricular training opportunities. For example, during my graduate studies at the University of Georgia (UGA), I helped in organizing a Conservation Medicine/Conservation Biology course for undergraduates at UGA Costa Rica. Most attendees were pre-vet, pre-med, or underclassmen interested in Ecohealth or a wildlife-conservation experience. Our laboratory also received applications for shortterm training breaks from young veterinary or pre-veterinary students interested in gaining hands-on training in wildlife ecology and health issues, who received unique opportunities to work with projects conducted by graduate students. In addition, some U.S.-based academic institutions are offering experiential learning—or research track—oriented degrees, which provide opportunities for underclassmen in intensive and progressive training across multiple semesters under the supervision of faculty. Many EcoHealth 11, 152–153, 2014 DOI: 10.1007/s10393-014-0932-0