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. 2010 May;33(3):249-65.
doi: 10.1016/j.cimid.2008.10.005. Epub 2008 Nov 26.

Multi-host pathogens and carnivore management in southern Africa

K A Alexander  1 , J W McNutt, M B Briggs, P E Standers, P Funston, G Hemson, D Keet, M van Vuuren
Affiliations

Multi-host pathogens and carnivore management in southern Africa

K A Alexander et al. Comp Immunol Microbiol Infect Dis. 2010 May.

Abstract
in English, French

A retrospective serosurvey of multi-host feline and canine viruses among carnivore species in southern Africa (n=1018) identified widespread pathogen exposure even in remote protected areas. In contrast to mortality experienced in East African predators, canine distemper virus (CDV) infection among African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus) in Botswana was not associated with identifiable change in pup survivorship or disease related mortality of adults. A disease outbreak of unknown aetiology occurred in the same population over 4 weeks in 1996. Outbreak boundaries coincided with ecotones, not the spatial distribution of contiguous packs, highlighting the potential importance of landscape heterogeneities in these processes. Direct management of pathogens in domestic animal reservoirs is complicated by the apparent complexity of pathogen maintenance and transmission in these large systems. Conservation effort should be focused at securing large metapopulations able to compensate for expected episodic generalist pathogen invasion and attention directed to addressing underlying causes of population depression such as habitat loss and wildlife conflict.

Au travers d’une étude sérologique rétrospective de virus affectant plusieurs espèces de carnivores d’Afrique du sud (n = 1073), nous montrons une exposition étendue aux pathogènes dans cette région jusque dans des parties reculées de zones protégées. Au contraire de la mortalité observée chez les prédateurs Est africains, les infections au virus de la maladie de Carre chez les chiens sauvage du Botswana n’était pas associée à un changement significatif de la survie des chiots. L’éruption d’une pathologie d’étiologie inconnue s’est déclenchée chez les chiens sauvages dans le delta de l’Okavango, au Botswana (1996). Les frontières de l’épidémie coïncidaient plus avec les écotones qu’avec la distribution géographique des meutes, ce qui souligne l’importance de l’hétérogénéité des paysages dans ces dynamiques. La gestion directe des pathogènes dans les réservoirs d’animaux domestiques se trouve compliquée par l’apparente complexité du maintient et de la transmission de pathogènes dans ces vastes systèmes. Les efforts de conservation devraient être portés sur la sécurisation de grandes métapopulations capable de compenser des invasions épisodiques prédictibles de pathogènes généralistes, ainsi que sur les causes de déclin de populations sauvages telles que des pertes d’habitat ou des conflits avec des activités humaines.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Predator sampling locations in southern Africa (locations are marked with colour rectangles): Etosha National Park (lavender), Tsumkwe (blue), Caprivi (yellow): Namibia; Zambezi Valley (black), Zimbabwe; Chobe District (light blue), Okavango Delta (dark pink), Makgadikgadi National Park (light pink), Kalahari Transfrontier Park (red): Botswana; Kruger National Park (maroon), Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Game Reserve (orange): South Africa.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Seroprevalence of canine distemper virus (CDV), canine parainfluenzavirus (CPIV), canine parvovirus (CPV), canine coronavirus (CCV), canine adenovirus (CAV), and rotavirus (RV) among retrospectively sampled African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus, AWD, 1993–1999) and domestic dogs (DD, 1996) in Okavango Delta, Botswana.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Percent seroprevalence of antiviral antibodies for canine distemper virus (CDV), feline panleukopenia virus (FPLV), feline herpesvirus type I (FHV-1), feline calcivirus (FCV), feline coronoavirus (FcoV), feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV), and feline leukaemia virus (FeLV), among retrospectively sampled lion (Panthera leo) in Botswana (Chobe District, Okavango Delta (Delta), Makgadikagdi National Park (MNP) and Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park (KTP)), Zimbabwe (Zambezi Valley), Namibia (Caprivi, Etosha National Park (Etosha)) and South Africa (Kruger National Park (KNP), Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Game Reserve (Imfolozi)).
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
The CDV antibody status of sampled lions and home range of three prides within the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park (dark green), surrounding Wildlife Management Areas (light green) and cattle on tribal grazing areas (no colour). Cattle density is provided as an indicator of human and domestic animal density.
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
CDV seroprevalence in African wild dogs (1993–1999) and domestic dogs (1996) in the Okavango Delta, Botswana.
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
Minimum survivorship (lx) to 1 year for African wild dog pups born 1990–1999 (N = 71 litters).
Fig. 7
Fig. 7
African wild dog home range (n = 12 packs) is identified in relation to habitat, villages and cattle posts. Five packs died from an unknown infectious disease that spread rapidly in February 1996 (red) leaving seven packs surviving (blue). Of the five packs to the North that survived, two contributed to repopulating the vacated area along with the packs from the southwest. Mopane woodland (green) is a low-density prey area as opposed to the wetlands habitats, which is predominately flooded grassland. Deeper water on the southern boundary of the outbreak area and lower wildlife density to the north in the Mopane woodlands circumscribed the outbreak area.
Fig. 8
Fig. 8
Age-specific CDV seroprevalence among lions (year) in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park (KTP) in Botswana (n = 32).
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