Infectious Keratoconjunctivitis in Bighorn Sheep, Silver Bell Mountains, Arizona, USA

Jansen, Brian D.; Heffelfinger, James R.; Noon, T. H.; Krausman, Paul R.; Devos, James C.

doi:10.7589/0090-3558-42.2.407

Cited by 25 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Under experimental conditions contact between domestic goats and BHS does not appear to be as problematic as contact with domestic sheep [14] but co-pasturing of domestic goats and BHS has resulted in pneumonia and death in BHS [16]. Contact between BHS and domestic goats under field conditions has been documented [10, 36, 37]. Infectious keratoconjuntivitis (pink eye) has been transmitted from domestic goats to BHS under range conditions [37] and Mannheimia spp.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Contact between BHS and domestic goats under field conditions has been documented [10, 36, 37]. Infectious keratoconjuntivitis (pink eye) has been transmitted from domestic goats to BHS under range conditions [37] and Mannheimia spp. have been shown to be shared between BHS and feral goats, although the sharing was limited between three animals and did not appear to be involved in the large BHS die-off occurring in the area [10].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Potential disease agents in domestic goats and relevance to bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) management

Drew

Weiser

2017

PLoS ONE

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Domestic goats are raised for meat, milk and hair production, in herds for rangeland weed control, and as pack animals. Domestic sheep, goats and wild bighorn sheep are all susceptible to a multifactorial pneumonia. We sampled 43 herd goats from 7 herds and 48 pack goats from 11 herds for viral and bacterial serology, parasitology, and Pasteurellaceae microbiology. The goats in this study were in generally good health, although most goats did harbor various pathogens and parasites including several bacteria, specifically Pasteurellaceae, which have been associated with pneumonia in free-ranging bighorn sheep. It is not known if domestic goats can transmit the Pasteurellaceae or other pathogens found in this study readily to wild bighorn sheep. However, due the possibility of transmission, domestic goats in areas in or near bighorn sheep habitat should be managed to minimize the risk of spreading disease agents to bighorn sheep.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Potential disease agents in domestic goats and relevance to bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) management

Drew

Weiser

2017

PLoS ONE

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“…Several wild hosts have been described suffering from IKC, chamois ( Rupicapra spp. ), Alpine ibex ( Capra ibex ), Iberian ibex ( Capra pyrenaica ), mouflon ( Ovis aries musimon ), the Himalayan tahr ( Hemitragus jemlahicus ) and bighorn sheep ( Ovis canadensis ) [6,8,18]. Among them, chamois are the most common and widespread species in Europe and the one that have suffered more frequent and severe IKC outbreaks [12,15,17,19,20].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long-term dynamics of Mycoplasma conjunctivae at the wildlife-livestock interface in the Pyrenees

et al. 2017

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Functional roles of domestic and wild host populations in infectious keratoconjunctivitis (IKC) epidemiology have been extensively discussed claiming a domestic reservoir for the more susceptible wild hosts, however, based on limited data. With the aim to better assess IKC epidemiology in complex host-pathogen alpine systems, the long-term infectious dynamics and molecular epidemiology of Mycoplasma conjunctivae was investigated in all host populations from six study areas in the Pyrenees and one in the Cantabrian Mountains (Northern Spain). Detection of M. conjunctivae was performed by qPCR on 3600 eye swabs collected during seven years from hunted wild ungulates and sympatric domestic sheep (n = 1800 animals), and cluster analyses of the strains were performed including previous reported local strains. Mycoplasma conjunctivae was consistently detected in three Pyrenean chamois (Rupicapra p. pyrenaica) populations, as well as in sheep flocks (17.0% of sheep) and occasionally in mouflon (Ovis aries musimon) from the Pyrenees (22.2% in one year/area); statistically associated with ocular clinical signs only in chamois. Chamois populations showed different infection dynamics with low but steady prevalence (4.9%) and significant yearly fluctuations (0.0%– 40.0%). Persistence of specific M. conjunctivae strain clusters in wild host populations is demonstrated for six and nine years. Cross-species transmission between chamois and sheep and chamois and mouflon were also sporadically evidenced. Overall, independent M. conjunctivae sylvatic and domestic cycles occurred at the wildlife-livestock interface in the alpine ecosystems from the Pyrenees with sheep and chamois as the key host species for each cycle, and mouflon as a spill-over host. Host population characteristics and M. conjunctivae strains resulted in different epidemiological scenarios in chamois, ranging from the fading out of the mycoplasma to the epidemic and endemic long-term persistence. These findings highlight the capacity of M. conjunctivae to establish diverse interactions and persist in host populations, also with different transmission conditions.

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“…It affects both wild and domestic Caprinae but severe signs are more frequent in wildlife [6]. In wild ruminants, the disease has been known for nearly a century and reported to occur in at least seven European countries (Switzerland, Italy, France, Austria, Slovenia [7], Spain [8], Norway [9]), in North America [10, 11] and in Oceania (New Zealand [12], Australia [13]).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Mycoplasma conjunctivae has been isolated from domestic and wild animals with IKC signs in various parts of the world, including Europe [16], North America [10, 11], Africa [17], Asia [18] and Oceania [19, 20], and IKC was successfully induced by inoculation of M. conjunctivae under experimental conditions [3, 21]. Most recently, the existence of a strong association between M. conjunctivae infection and IKC signs has also been documented in epidemiological surveys [4, 22] and M. conjunctivae is now recognized as the major etiological agent of IKC in Caprinae species.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Infectious keratoconjunctivitis in wild Caprinae: merging field observations and molecular analyses sheds light on factors shaping outbreak dynamics

Gelormini

Gauthier²,

Vilei

et al. 2016

BMC Vet Res

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BackgroundInfectious keratoconjunctivitis (IKC) is an ocular infectious disease caused by Mycoplasma conjunctivae which affects small domestic and wild mountain ruminants. Domestic sheep maintain the pathogen but the detection of healthy carriers in wildlife has raised the question as to whether M. conjunctivae may also persist in the wild. Furthermore, the factors shaping the dynamics of IKC outbreaks in wildlife have remained largely unknown. The aims of this study were (1) to verify the etiological role of M. conjunctivae in IKC outbreaks recorded between 2002 and 2010 at four study sites in different regions of France (Pyrenees and Alps, samples from 159 Alpine ibex Capra ibex, Alpine chamois Rupicapra rupicapra and Pyrenean chamois Rupicapra pyrenaica); (2) to establish whether there existed any epidemiological links between the different regions through a cluster analysis of the detected strains (from 80 out of the 159 animals tested); (3) to explore selected pathogen, host and environmental factors potentially influencing the dynamics of IKC in wildlife, by joining results obtained by molecular analyses and by field observations (16,609 animal observations). All of the samples were tested for M. conjunctivae by qPCR, and cluster analysis was based on a highly variable part of the lppS gene.ResultsWe documented infections with M. conjunctivae in epidemic and endemic situations, both in symptomatic and asymptomatic animals. The identified M. conjunctivae strains were site-specific and persisted in the local wild population for at least 6 years. In epidemic situations, peaks of cases and disease resurgence were associated with the emergence of new similar strains in a given area. Social interactions, seasonal movements and the landscape structure such as natural and anthropogenic barriers influenced the spatio-temporal spread of IKC. Adults were more affected than young animals and host susceptibility differed depending on the involved strain.ConclusionOur study indicates that IKC is a multifactorial disease and that M. conjunctivae can persist in wildlife populations. The disease course in individual animals and populations is influenced by both host and mycoplasma characteristics, and the disease spread within and among populations is shaped by host behavior and landscape structure.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12917-017-0972-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Infectious Keratoconjunctivitis in Bighorn Sheep, Silver Bell Mountains, Arizona, USA

Cited by 25 publications

References 15 publications

Potential disease agents in domestic goats and relevance to bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) management

Potential disease agents in domestic goats and relevance to bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) management

Long-term dynamics of Mycoplasma conjunctivae at the wildlife-livestock interface in the Pyrenees

Infectious keratoconjunctivitis in wild Caprinae: merging field observations and molecular analyses sheds light on factors shaping outbreak dynamics

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