Host species heterogeneity in the epidemiology of Nesopora caninum

Abstract

Pathogen transmission across species drives disease emergence; however, mechanisms by which multi-host pathogens cross species boundaries are not well identified. This knowledge gap prevents integrated and targeted control in an epidemiologically continuous ecosystem. Our goal is to describe the impact of host species heterogeneity on the epidemiology of Neospora caninum circulating between livestock and wildlife in southeastern Ohio. We collected biological samples from Père David’s deer (Elaphurus davidianus) located at an outdoor wildlife conservation center; from cattle raised at farms adjacent to the center; and from wild white-tailed deer that roamed across farm and center boundaries. We designed nested infectious disease models of competing hypotheses about transmission and used collected data to fit the models, thereby estimating important immunological and transmission quantities which describe the species-specific contribution to the persistence of this pathogen in the community. We applied these data and models to suggest appropriate species-specific disease control methods. Results show that immunity in cattle and Pére David’s deer wanes over time, while in white-tailed deer immunity appears to be lifelong. Transmission quantities for cattle were estimated at values below the threshold for an outbreak (Rt < 1), meaning that chains of transmission are not maintained within this population and infections must occur due to reintroduction from an outside source. Pére David’s deer and white-tailed deer both could maintain continuous chains of transmission within their group (Rt > 1). Therefore, we propose that control of contact with outside sources will be useful for disease control in cattle; boosting immunity with vaccines might be an avenue to prevent infection in cattle and Père David’s deer. White-tailed deer are a potential maintenance host for infection and require further study to determine optimal control methods. Community-level investigations like this allow us to better evaluate heterogeneities in transmission processes that ultimately guide targeted control.

Mathematical modeling at the livestock-wildlife interface: scoping review of drivers of disease transmission between species

“…Three more articles did model ASF, but as part of the ASF challenge and with synthetic data ( 49 , 60 , 66 ). Four studies included a field component that was used in model calibration ( 25 , 34 , 57 , 69 ).…”

“…Beyond a lack of parameters for quantifying livestock-wildlife contact, even defining what constitutes an epidemiological relevant contact was the primary hurdle of 3 models ( 29 , 64 , 69 ). Balancing model complexity with utility was the main hurdle in 4 models.…”

Serological Epidemiology of Foot-and-mouth Disease among Sedentary Mixed-species Herds in Adamawa Region, Cameroon

“…The likelihood estimations were performed using the "optim" function in R [21]. The catalytic and reverse catalytic model fitting was determined as described in Pomeroy et al, [14] and Moreno-Torres et al, [22]. The chi-square test was used to compare the seroprevalence with hosts related health parameters like age and sex as well as study sites.…”

A new Eimeria coccidian species (Apicomplexa: Eimeriidae) from Père David’s deer (Elaphurus davidianus Milne-Edwards, 1866) in Dafeng Milu National Nature Reserve in Jiangsu Province, eastern China

“…Today, more than 8000 Père David’s deer are raised in parts of China [ 8 ], especially on our nature reserves. According to the report, bacteria [ 2 , 9 – 11 ], viruses [ 12 , 13 ] and parasites such as helminth [ 14 , 15 ] and protozoa [ 16 – 20 ] are a potential threat to the survival of the Père David’s deer. In order to better protect Père David’s deer, we collected some feces of Père David’s deer for examination, and found an Eimeria that had never been described.…”