Wildlife Diseases and One Health Flashcards
What is one health?
an interdisciplinary field that looks at human, animal, and ecosystem health
What causes the spread of infectious diseases into wildlife areas?
result of increasing population densities and agriculture and human settlements
What is the purpose of the National Wildlife Health Center?
to advance wildlife health science for the benefit of animals, humans, and the environment
What are branches of the National Wildlife Health Center?
- emerging wildlife diseases
- disease investigation services
- disease surveillance
- disease management tools
- Honolulu field station
What are some diseases the National Wildlife Health Center looks at (emerging wildlife diseases)?
- avian influenza
- chronic wasting disease
- Bsal
- white nose syndrome
What does the disease surveillance branch of the National Wildlife Health Center do?
- avian influenza surveillance
- Bsal surveillance
- White nose syndrome surveillance
What does the disease management tools branch of the National Wildlife Health Center do?
- disease ecology and modeling
- vaccines
- technology development and innovation
What does the Honolulu field station for the National Wildlife Health Center do?
- marine invertebrate diseases
- avian diseases
- sea turtle diseases
- fish health
What does the Disease investigation services of the National Wildlife Health Center do?
- report mortality events and submit specimens
- diagnostic services
- epidemiological services
What is Lyme disease?
a bacterial zoonotic disease
Scientific name of Lyme disease?
Borrelia burgdorferi
How does Lyme disease spread typically?
white-footed mouse -> tick -> human
Why is preventing Lyme disease in humans difficult?
no vaccine for humans, but one for mice
What is the proposed solution for Lyme disease?
- gene drive can potentially be used to alter mice so produce antibodies against Lyme bacterium
- use CRISPR gene-editing technology
- removal of vector (white footed mouse)
Why have genetic changes in past not been effective?
- persist in low frequency or go extinct after multiple generations
How does gene drive work?
- improve odds that gene will be inherited and spread through wild populations
- carry altered gene, drive, and RNA(?) telling where to cut
What are some fungal pathogens in herps?
- Batrachochytrium dendrobitidis (Bd)
- Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal)
- Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola (SFD)
What is Batrachochytrium dendrobitidis (Bd)?
Chytrid fungal disease in frogs and toads
What is Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal)?
Chytrid fungal disease found in salamanders
What is Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola (SFD)?
snake fungal disease
What can Batrachochytrium dendrobitidis (Bd) lead to?
amphibian chytridiomycosis by impairing cutaneous respiration and osmoregulation
How far spread if Batrachochytrium dendrobitidis (Bd)?
- endemic in some areas, invasive in others
- found in 56/82 surveyed countries
- detected in 516 amphibian species
- Has been detected in remote wilderness areas and
national parks and from sea level up to 5,348 m
What is the origin of Batrachochytrium dendrobitidis (Bd)?
unknown
How devastating has Batrachochytrium dendrobitidis (Bd) been?
- caused 90 frog species to go extinct
- no other wildlife disease has caused species extinction on such a global scale
How does Batrachochytrium dendrobitidis (Bd) spread?
- through dispersal of infected amphibians
- within a contagious water body due to water currents
- dispersal b/n water bodies may involve movement of Bd-positive water or sediment carried by birds or human activity
What is Batrachochytrium dendrobitidis (Bd) vulnerable to?
desiccation and prolonged exposure to temps above 29 C
How does transoceanic spread of Batrachochytrium dendrobitidis (Bd) occur?
- international wildlife trade and contaminated shipping substrates
- tropical storms
- possibly rainwater
How were midwife toads cured of Bd in Mallorca?
- tadpoles treated with an antifungal drug (itraconazole) and chemically cleaned ponds with Virkon S, an agricultural disinfectant
- Mallorca is dry and few other species live there that could reintroduce fungus
What is Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans
(Bsal) also called?
devourer of salamanders
How serious is Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans
(Bsal)?
- caused 96% decline in fire salamander population
- lethal to Salamandridae and Plenthodontidae
How did Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans
(Bsal) spread?
through pet trade
What place has highest salamander diversity in world?
- USA
- 191 species
How much of world’s salamander species are found in SE USA?
20%
What are plethodontid salamanders?
lungless
What makes plethodontid salamanders so susceptible to chytridiomycosis?
use cutaneous respiration
What snakes are more susceptible to Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola
(Snake Fungal Disease)
snakes with abraded skin
What are symptoms of Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola
(Snake Fungal Disease)?
- lesions
- abnormal behavior such as basking in winter instead of hibernating
- molt twice as frequently
How was white-nose syndrome likely brought to USA?
by a caver in 2005
What does white-nose syndrome do?
causes bats to wake up from hibernation and become active at times when food unavailable
What is Colony Collapse disorver (CDD)?
- sudden lose of a honey bee colony’s worker bee population (queen and brood remain, abundant honey and pollen reserves)
- results in hives dying as cannot sustain themselves without worker bees
What causes colony collapse disorder (CDD)?
- varroa mite
- Israeli Acute Paralysis virus
- gut parasite Nosema
- pesticide poisoning
- stress due to management practices
- changes to foraging habitat
- inadequate forage/poor nutrition
What was the cause of Covid-19?
- traced to live animal market in Wuhan City, China
- bats -> unknown animal (pangolin?) -> humans
What is covid-19 like in bats?
- bats have strong immune response and as a result virus quickly adapts and replicates in bats without killing the bat
Why do bats have a strong immune response?
likely due to flying and need to quickly repair cell damage
What viruses besides covid can be traced back to bats?
- SARS
- MERS
- Ebola
- Nipah
- Hendra
- Marsburg
