Mass Die-Off of Saiga Antelopes, Kazakhstan, 2015

Abstract

In 2015, a mass die-off of ≈200,000 saiga antelopes in central Kazakhstan was caused by hemorrhagic septicemia attributable to the bacterium Pasteurella multocida serotype B. Previous analyses have indicated that environmental triggers associated with weather conditions, specifically air moisture and temperature in the region of the saiga antelope calving during the 10-day period running up to the event, were critical to the proliferation of latent bacteria and were comparable to conditions accompanying historically similar die-offs in the same areas. We investigated whether additional viral or bacterial pathogens could be detected in samples from affected animals using 3 different high-throughput sequencing approaches. We did not identify pathogens associated with commensal bacterial opportunisms in blood, kidney, or lung samples and thus concluded that P. multocida serotype B was the primary cause of the disease.

Outbreak of Peste des Petits Ruminants among Critically Endangered Mongolian Saiga and Other Wild Ungulates, Mongolia, 2016–2017

“…The prominence of liver lesions and involvement of biliary epithelium were unusual, although they have been reported for other morbillivirus infections, including infection of wild lesser kudu ( Tragelaphus imberbis ) by the closely related rinderpest virus ( 32 ). Pathologic findings in the examined animals were not consistent with hemorrhagic septicemia caused by Pasteurella multocida, which caused large-scale saiga mortality in Kazakhstan ( 33 , 34 ). Diminished fat reserves and lymphoid depletion in PPR-positive and PPR-negative saiga was a nonspecific finding and could indicate the existence of environmental stressors, possibly explained by midwinter conditions.…”

Towards a unified generic framework to define and observe contacts between livestock and wildlife: a systematic review

“…Disease transmission between livestock and wildlife can have marked economic impact, such as African swine fever outbreaks in domestic pigs and wild boar ( Sus scrofa ) in Europe and Asia ( Dixon et al, 2019 ), where the loss of 12–20% of the global pig herd in 2019 led to a 10% increase in the food price index of pork ( Pitts & Whitnall, 2019 ). The impact of disease transmission on wildlife can be seen in the loss of around half the global saiga ( Saiga tatarica ) antelope population in 2015 to Pasteurella multocida , a pathogen harboured by livestock ( Fereidouni et al, 2019 ). Contact between wildlife and livestock may also lead to conflict between humans and wildlife, with compensation for large carnivore predation and other damage costing 28.5 million euros annually in Europe ( Bautista et al, 2019 ).…”

Draft Genome Sequences of Three Pasteurella multocida Strains Isolated from Domestic Animals in Kazakhstan

“…The case fatality rate due to HS can reach 90% of the animal population. An example of this is the outbreaks between 2008 and 2015, which led to a catastrophic decline in saiga populations, putting them on the brink of extinction ( 1 ). Information on the genetic diversity of P. multocida circulating in Kazakhstan among wild and particularly domestic animals is limited ( 2 , 3 ).…”