The Experts below are selected from a list of 174 Experts worldwide ranked by ideXlab platform
Janet E Foley - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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widespread anticoagulant poison exposure is linked with immune dysregulation and severe Notoedric Mange in urban bobcats
Proceedings of the Vertebrate Pest Conference, 2018Co-Authors: Laurel E K Serieys, Seth P D Riley, Janet E Foley, Amanda J Lea, Marta Epeldegui, Joanne Gale Moriarty, Christel H Uittenbogaart, Devaughn L Fraser, Alice Mouton, Robert K WayneAbstract:Author(s): Serieys, Laurel E. K.; Lea, Amanda; Epeldegui, Marta; Foley, Janet; Moriarty, Joanne Gale; Riley, Seth P. D.; Uittenbogaart, Christel H.; Fraser, Devaughn; Mouton, Alice; Wayne, Robert K. | Abstract: Human activities threaten wildlife with a variety of novel stressors such as exposure to toxicants. Anticoagulant rodenticides (ARs) are toxicants applied worldwide and through bioaccumulation, threaten species that prey on poisoned rodents or their predators. We studied a population of urban bobcats in southern California that declined rapidly from 2002-2005 due to Notoedric Mange. We first assessed prevalence of AR exposure using blood and liver samples across the population and found widespread exposure (g90%). Death associated with Mange was strongly correlated with cumulative first- and second-generation AR exposure. These findings suggested that exposure to both first- and second-generation ARs were an underlying cause of the disease. We next aimed to understand the sublethal immunological and physiological effects of AR exposure in this natural population. We used two approaches: 1) we used a comprehensive suite of health assays (complete blood counts, blood chemistry assessment, and immunological profiling), and 2) we quantified AR-induced differential gene expression in blood for a subset of individuals. We found that sublethal AR exposure, primarily measured as exposure to diphacinone, is associated with hallmark indicators of generalized systemic inflammation that in persistence could promote immune dysfunction. Further, differential gene expression findings supported the results of immunological profiling. Further, a decrease in the expression of genes associated with epithelial maintenance simultaneous to a decrease in gene expression linked with ectoparasitic immune response may explain the link between AR exposure and Mange vulnerability. Such indirect effects of sublethal exposure exemplify the challenge of protecting wild populations from common toxicants in human-dominated environments.
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A synthetic review of notoedres species mites and Mange.
Parasitology, 2016Co-Authors: Janet E Foley, Seth P D Riley, Nicole Stephenson, Colin W. Foley, Megan K. Jennings, Greta M. Wengert, Winston Vickers, Erin E. Boydston, Lisa L. LyrenAbstract:Notoedric Mange, caused by obligately parasitic sarcoptiform Notoedres mites, is associated with potentially fatal dermatitis with secondary systemic disease in small mammals, felids and procyonids among others, as well as an occasional zoonosis. We describe clinical spectra in non-chiropteran hosts, review risk factors and summarize ecological and epidemiological studies. The genus is disproportionately represented on rodents. Disease in felids and procyonids ranges from very mild to death. Knowledge of the geographical distribution of the mites is highly inadequate, with focal hot spots known for Notoedres cati in domestic cats and bobcats. Predisposing genetic and immunological factors are not known, except that co-infection with other parasites and anticoagulant rodenticide toxicoses may contribute to severe disease. Treatment of individual animals is typically successful with macrocytic lactones such as selamectin, but herd or wildlife population treatment has not been undertaken. Transmission requires close contact and typically is within a host species. Notoedric Mange can kill half all individuals in a population and regulate host population below non-diseased density for decades, consistent with frequency-dependent transmission or spillover from other hosts. Epidemics are increasingly identified in various hosts, suggesting global change in suitable environmental conditions or increased reporting bias.
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serum chemistry hematologic and post mortem findings in free ranging bobcats lynx rufus with Notoedric Mange
Journal of Parasitology, 2013Co-Authors: Laurel E K Serieys, Janet E Foley, Erin E. Boydston, Lisa L. Lyren, Sean D Owens, Leslie W Woods, Robert H. PoppengaAbstract:Abstract: Notoedric Mange was responsible for a population decline of bobcats (Lynx rufus) in 2 Southern California counties from 2002–2006 and is now reported to affect bobcats in Northern and Southern California. With this study we document clinical laboratory and necropsy findings for bobcats with Mange. Bobcats in this study included free-ranging bobcats with Mange (n = 34), a control group of free-ranging bobcats without Mange (n = 11), and a captive control group of bobcats without Mange (n = 19). We used 2 control groups to evaluate potential anomalies due to capture stress or diet. Free-ranging healthy and Mange-infected bobcats were trapped or salvaged. Animals were tested by serum biochemistry, complete blood count, urine protein and creatinine, body weight, necropsy, and assessment for anticoagulant rodenticide residues in liver tissue. Bobcats with severe Mange were emaciated, dehydrated, and anemic with low serum creatinine, hyperphosphatemia, hypoglycemia, hypernatremia, and hyperchloremia,...
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Pathologic findings in Western gray squirrels (Sciurus griseus) from a Notoedric Mange epidemic in the San Bernardino Mountains, California
International journal for parasitology. Parasites and wildlife, 2013Co-Authors: Nicole Stephenson, Pam Swift, Jeffrey T. Villepique, Deana L. Clifford, Akinyi C Nyaoke, Janet Moore, Alfonso Mora, Janet E FoleyAbstract:Notoedric Mange, caused by the contagious, burrowing mite Notoedres centrifera, has been associated with several large-scale population declines of western gray squirrels (Sciurus griseus) and has been a significant obstacle to population recovery in Washington State where the species is listed as threatened. In 2009, residents and wildlife rehabilitators in the isolated San Bernardino Mountains of southern California reported a dramatic die-off of western gray squirrels, in what had been a previously dense and robust population. Individuals were observed suffering from abnormal neurologic behaviors (ataxia and obtundation) and severe skin disease. Full necropsy of five squirrels from the epidemic showed that all had moderate to severe infestation with Mange mites and severe dermatitis characterized by hyperkeratosis, acanthosis, intralesional mites, intracorneal pustules and superficial bacteria. Mites from affected squirrels were evaluated by light and electron microscopy and identified as N. centrifera based on morphologic criteria. Additionally, the internal transcribed spacer-2 region of the mite was cloned, sequenced and accessioned in GenBank. The cause for the abnormal neurologic behavior was not confirmed on post-mortem examination. However, we hypothesize that Mange can cause incoordination and obtundation as a result of malnutrition and dehydration, and intense pruritis may induce abnormal or erratic behavior that could be mistaken for neurologic signs. While we have characterized the severe impact this disease can have on individual animals, more work is needed to understand the impact on squirrel populations, particularly in view of the anecdotal reports of dramatic population declines that may take decades to recover.
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development and validation of a fecal pcr assay for notoedres cati and application to Notoedric Mange cases in bobcats lynx rufus in northern california usa
Journal of Wildlife Diseases, 2013Co-Authors: Nicole Stephenson, Deana L. Clifford, Laurel E K Serieys, Joy S Worth, Janet E FoleyAbstract:Notoedric Mange in felids is a devastating disease caused by a hypersensitivity reaction to the mite Notoedres cati. The burrowing of the mite causes intense pruritis resulting in self-mutilation, secondary bacterial infection, and often death of affected felids if left untreated. Our understanding of how Notoedric Mange is maintained in felid populations, and the true geographic extent of infestations, has been hampered because wild felids are elusive and, thus, traditional diagnostic methods are difficult to implement. To create a noninvasive diagnostic test, we developed and validated a novel PCR assay to detect N. cati DNA in fecal samples of bobcats (Lynx rufus) and used this assay to investigate a recent outbreak of Mange in northern California, United States. Although the fecal PCR assay was 100% specific and could detect as few as 1.9 mites/200 μg of feces, it had a moderate sensitivity of 52.6%, potentially due to intermittent shedding of mites in feces or fecal PCR inhibitors. In a field investigation, 12% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.06, 0.23) of fecal samples (n=65) collected from Rancho San Antonia County Park and Open Space Preserve in Santa Clara County, California were PCR-positive for N. cati. When this estimate was adjusted for test sensitivity, the corrected proportion for fecal samples containing N. cati was 23% (95% CI: 0.14, 0.36), suggesting widespread Mange in this area. This novel PCR assay will be an important tool to assess the distribution and spread of Notoedric Mange in bobcats and could be validated to test other wild felids such as mountain lions (Puma concolor). The assay could also be used to detect Notoedric Mange in domestic cats (Felis catus), particularly feral cats, which may also suffer from Mange and could represent an important contributor to Mange in periurban bobcat populations.
Nicole Stephenson - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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A synthetic review of notoedres species mites and Mange.
Parasitology, 2016Co-Authors: Janet E Foley, Seth P D Riley, Nicole Stephenson, Colin W. Foley, Megan K. Jennings, Greta M. Wengert, Winston Vickers, Erin E. Boydston, Lisa L. LyrenAbstract:Notoedric Mange, caused by obligately parasitic sarcoptiform Notoedres mites, is associated with potentially fatal dermatitis with secondary systemic disease in small mammals, felids and procyonids among others, as well as an occasional zoonosis. We describe clinical spectra in non-chiropteran hosts, review risk factors and summarize ecological and epidemiological studies. The genus is disproportionately represented on rodents. Disease in felids and procyonids ranges from very mild to death. Knowledge of the geographical distribution of the mites is highly inadequate, with focal hot spots known for Notoedres cati in domestic cats and bobcats. Predisposing genetic and immunological factors are not known, except that co-infection with other parasites and anticoagulant rodenticide toxicoses may contribute to severe disease. Treatment of individual animals is typically successful with macrocytic lactones such as selamectin, but herd or wildlife population treatment has not been undertaken. Transmission requires close contact and typically is within a host species. Notoedric Mange can kill half all individuals in a population and regulate host population below non-diseased density for decades, consistent with frequency-dependent transmission or spillover from other hosts. Epidemics are increasingly identified in various hosts, suggesting global change in suitable environmental conditions or increased reporting bias.
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Pathologic findings in Western gray squirrels (Sciurus griseus) from a Notoedric Mange epidemic in the San Bernardino Mountains, California
International journal for parasitology. Parasites and wildlife, 2013Co-Authors: Nicole Stephenson, Pam Swift, Jeffrey T. Villepique, Deana L. Clifford, Akinyi C Nyaoke, Janet Moore, Alfonso Mora, Janet E FoleyAbstract:Notoedric Mange, caused by the contagious, burrowing mite Notoedres centrifera, has been associated with several large-scale population declines of western gray squirrels (Sciurus griseus) and has been a significant obstacle to population recovery in Washington State where the species is listed as threatened. In 2009, residents and wildlife rehabilitators in the isolated San Bernardino Mountains of southern California reported a dramatic die-off of western gray squirrels, in what had been a previously dense and robust population. Individuals were observed suffering from abnormal neurologic behaviors (ataxia and obtundation) and severe skin disease. Full necropsy of five squirrels from the epidemic showed that all had moderate to severe infestation with Mange mites and severe dermatitis characterized by hyperkeratosis, acanthosis, intralesional mites, intracorneal pustules and superficial bacteria. Mites from affected squirrels were evaluated by light and electron microscopy and identified as N. centrifera based on morphologic criteria. Additionally, the internal transcribed spacer-2 region of the mite was cloned, sequenced and accessioned in GenBank. The cause for the abnormal neurologic behavior was not confirmed on post-mortem examination. However, we hypothesize that Mange can cause incoordination and obtundation as a result of malnutrition and dehydration, and intense pruritis may induce abnormal or erratic behavior that could be mistaken for neurologic signs. While we have characterized the severe impact this disease can have on individual animals, more work is needed to understand the impact on squirrel populations, particularly in view of the anecdotal reports of dramatic population declines that may take decades to recover.
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development and validation of a fecal pcr assay for notoedres cati and application to Notoedric Mange cases in bobcats lynx rufus in northern california usa
Journal of Wildlife Diseases, 2013Co-Authors: Nicole Stephenson, Deana L. Clifford, Laurel E K Serieys, Joy S Worth, Janet E FoleyAbstract:Notoedric Mange in felids is a devastating disease caused by a hypersensitivity reaction to the mite Notoedres cati. The burrowing of the mite causes intense pruritis resulting in self-mutilation, secondary bacterial infection, and often death of affected felids if left untreated. Our understanding of how Notoedric Mange is maintained in felid populations, and the true geographic extent of infestations, has been hampered because wild felids are elusive and, thus, traditional diagnostic methods are difficult to implement. To create a noninvasive diagnostic test, we developed and validated a novel PCR assay to detect N. cati DNA in fecal samples of bobcats (Lynx rufus) and used this assay to investigate a recent outbreak of Mange in northern California, United States. Although the fecal PCR assay was 100% specific and could detect as few as 1.9 mites/200 μg of feces, it had a moderate sensitivity of 52.6%, potentially due to intermittent shedding of mites in feces or fecal PCR inhibitors. In a field investigation, 12% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.06, 0.23) of fecal samples (n=65) collected from Rancho San Antonia County Park and Open Space Preserve in Santa Clara County, California were PCR-positive for N. cati. When this estimate was adjusted for test sensitivity, the corrected proportion for fecal samples containing N. cati was 23% (95% CI: 0.14, 0.36), suggesting widespread Mange in this area. This novel PCR assay will be an important tool to assess the distribution and spread of Notoedric Mange in bobcats and could be validated to test other wild felids such as mountain lions (Puma concolor). The assay could also be used to detect Notoedric Mange in domestic cats (Felis catus), particularly feral cats, which may also suffer from Mange and could represent an important contributor to Mange in periurban bobcat populations.
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DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF A FECAL PCR ASSAY FOR NOTOEDRES CATI AND APPLICATION TO Notoedric Mange CASES IN BOBCATS (LYNX RUFUS) IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA, USA
Journal of wildlife diseases, 2013Co-Authors: Nicole Stephenson, Deana L. Clifford, Laurel E K Serieys, S. Joy Worth, Janet E FoleyAbstract:Notoedric Mange in felids is a devastating disease caused by a hypersensitivity reaction to the mite Notoedres cati. The burrowing of the mite causes intense pruritis resulting in self-mutilation, secondary bacterial infection, and often death of affected felids if left untreated. Our understanding of how Notoedric Mange is maintained in felid populations, and the true geographic extent of infestations, has been hampered because wild felids are elusive and, thus, traditional diagnostic methods are difficult to implement. To create a noninvasive diagnostic test, we developed and validated a novel PCR assay to detect N. cati DNA in fecal samples of bobcats (Lynx rufus) and used this assay to investigate a recent outbreak of Mange in northern California, United States. Although the fecal PCR assay was 100% specific and could detect as few as 1.9 mites/200 μg of feces, it had a moderate sensitivity of 52.6%, potentially due to intermittent shedding of mites in feces or fecal PCR inhibitors. In a field investi...
Laurel E K Serieys - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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widespread anticoagulant poison exposure is linked with immune dysregulation and severe Notoedric Mange in urban bobcats
Proceedings of the Vertebrate Pest Conference, 2018Co-Authors: Laurel E K Serieys, Seth P D Riley, Janet E Foley, Amanda J Lea, Marta Epeldegui, Joanne Gale Moriarty, Christel H Uittenbogaart, Devaughn L Fraser, Alice Mouton, Robert K WayneAbstract:Author(s): Serieys, Laurel E. K.; Lea, Amanda; Epeldegui, Marta; Foley, Janet; Moriarty, Joanne Gale; Riley, Seth P. D.; Uittenbogaart, Christel H.; Fraser, Devaughn; Mouton, Alice; Wayne, Robert K. | Abstract: Human activities threaten wildlife with a variety of novel stressors such as exposure to toxicants. Anticoagulant rodenticides (ARs) are toxicants applied worldwide and through bioaccumulation, threaten species that prey on poisoned rodents or their predators. We studied a population of urban bobcats in southern California that declined rapidly from 2002-2005 due to Notoedric Mange. We first assessed prevalence of AR exposure using blood and liver samples across the population and found widespread exposure (g90%). Death associated with Mange was strongly correlated with cumulative first- and second-generation AR exposure. These findings suggested that exposure to both first- and second-generation ARs were an underlying cause of the disease. We next aimed to understand the sublethal immunological and physiological effects of AR exposure in this natural population. We used two approaches: 1) we used a comprehensive suite of health assays (complete blood counts, blood chemistry assessment, and immunological profiling), and 2) we quantified AR-induced differential gene expression in blood for a subset of individuals. We found that sublethal AR exposure, primarily measured as exposure to diphacinone, is associated with hallmark indicators of generalized systemic inflammation that in persistence could promote immune dysfunction. Further, differential gene expression findings supported the results of immunological profiling. Further, a decrease in the expression of genes associated with epithelial maintenance simultaneous to a decrease in gene expression linked with ectoparasitic immune response may explain the link between AR exposure and Mange vulnerability. Such indirect effects of sublethal exposure exemplify the challenge of protecting wild populations from common toxicants in human-dominated environments.
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Serieys_Supp_Fig_Captions_ESM.docx from Urbanization and anticoagulant poisons promote immune dysfunction in bobcats
2017Co-Authors: Laurel E K Serieys, Amanda J Lea, Marta Epeldegui, Robert K Wayne, Tiffany C. Armenta, Joanne Moriarty, Sue Vandewoude, Scott Carver, Janet Foley, Seth P D RileyAbstract:Understanding how human activities influence immune response to environmental stressors can support biodiversity conservation across increasingly urbanizing landscapes. We studied a bobcat (Lynx rufus) population in urban southern California that experienced a rapid population decline from 2002–2005 due to Notoedric Mange. Because anticoagulant rodenticide (AR) exposure was an underlying complication in Mange deaths, we aimed to understand sublethal contributions of urbanization and ARs on 65 biochemical markers of immune and organ function. Variance in immunological variables was primarily associated with AR exposure and secondarily with urbanization. Use of urban habitat and AR exposure has pervasive, complex and predictable effects on biochemical markers of immune and organ function in free-ranging bobcats that include impacts on neutrophil, lymphocyte and cytokine populations, total bilirubin and phosphorus. We find evidence of both inflammatory response and immune suppression associated with urban land use and rat poison exposure that could influence susceptibility to opportunistic infections. Consequently, AR exposure may influence mortality and has population-level effects, as previous work in the focal population has revealed substantial mortality caused by Mange infection. The secondary effects of anticoagulant exposure may be a worldwide, largely unrecognized problem affecting a variety of vertebrate species in human-dominated environments
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Critical Effects of Urbanization on a Charismatic Carnivore: Genetic Change, Disease and Toxicant Exposure, and Disease Susceptibility in Bobcat Populations in an Urban, Fragmented Landscape
eScholarship University of California, 2014Co-Authors: Laurel E K SerieysAbstract:Urbanization has profound ecological impacts that reach beyond city boundaries. Obvious ecological consequences of urbanization include habitat loss and fragmentation. Anthropogenic barriers reduce habitat connectivity, impede gene flow between populations and accelerate the loss of genetic diversity in populations due to drift. Urbanization may have also cryptic consequences such as the effects of human-introduced toxicants on wildlife populations. Toxicants are a leading cause of population decline for a variety of animal species worldwide and may directly threaten animal populations by causing direct mortalities, or indirectly through sublethal, chronic effects such as reproductive impairment, decreased immune competence, and increased disease susceptibility or emergence. If population-level impacts occur as a result of toxicant exposure, genetic consequences may also accompany reduced population sizes and connectivity. These include inbreeding depression that may increase the probability of population extinction and the loss of adaptive potential that reduces the ability of populations to respond to novel selection regimes. Overall, urbanization presents wildlife with many novel stressors to which they must adapt or perish. Urbanization is increasing at an unprecedented pace; understanding both the obvious and the cryptic threats to wild animal populations persisting near urban areas will be vital to promoting conservation and the maintenance of global biodiversity.To address the consequences of urbanization on wildlife populations, I focused on a well-studied population of bobcats (Lynx rufus) living in and around Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (SMMNRA). This region comprises a collection of protected park areas near downtown Los Angeles. Bobcats inhabiting SMMNRA have been monitored by National Park Service (NPS) biologists since 1996. Within a localized region of SMMNRA, the NPS has demonstrated that a major freeway (US-101) acts not only as a barrier to movement for bobcat and coyote (Canis latrans) populations, but potentially also as a social barrier. Further, from 2002-2005, a Notoedric Mange epizootic associated with secondary anticoagulant rat poison exposure was the greatest source of mortality for bobcats. During this period, the annual survival rate for radio-collared animals fell by > 50% and in 2003 the Mange mortality rate reached a high of 51%. Long-term samples were collected from this population from 1996-2012, allowing the rare opportunity to make direct comparisons before, during, and after the population decline. Using these data as a foundation, my research focused on three main objectives. First, I characterized neutral and adaptively relevant genetic diversity in bobcat populations across SMMNRA in both fragmented urban and protected natural areas. Second, I examined anticoagulant rodenticide exposure in bobcats across southern California, contrasting seasonal, demographic and spatial risk factors in both natural and urbanized areas. Third, I characterized physiological and immunological parameters in bobcats across SMMNRA to evaluate the effects of disease and toxicant exposure on bobcat health in an urban, fragmented landscape.I found that two freeways are significant barriers to gene flow. Further, the 3-year disease epizootic, associated with secondary anticoagulant rodenticide exposure, caused a population bottleneck that led to significant genetic differentiation pre- and post-disease populations that was greater than that between populations separated by major freeways for > 60 years. However, balancing selection acted on immune-linked loci during the epizootic, maintaining variation at functional regions. With respect to anticoagulant rodenticide exposure, I detected high prevalence of exposure (89%, liver; 39%, blood) and found that for individuals with paired liver and blood data (N = 64), 92% were exposed most frequently to greater than or equal to 3 compounds. Prevalence and the amounts of contaminants were associated with human activities that included commercial, residential, and agricultural development. I found a strong association between AR exposure to greater than and equal to 0.25 ppm or greater than and equal to 2 compounds and an ectoparasitic disease, Notoedric Mange. Finally, I observed that AR exposure has both immune stimulatory and suppressive effects that may explain increased bobcat susceptibility to Notoedric Mange as a result of chronic exposure to anticoagulant rodenticides. Bobcats exposed to ARs had elevated lymphocyte, and specifically B cell counts, and decreased percentages of neutrophils. Overall, these data highlight that even for free-ranging animals that are considered relatively adaptable to urbanization, habitat fragmentation and toxicant exposure can have profound population level effects that threaten the long-term stability of wildlife populations in an increasingly urbanized landscape
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serum chemistry hematologic and post mortem findings in free ranging bobcats lynx rufus with Notoedric Mange
Journal of Parasitology, 2013Co-Authors: Laurel E K Serieys, Janet E Foley, Erin E. Boydston, Lisa L. Lyren, Sean D Owens, Leslie W Woods, Robert H. PoppengaAbstract:Abstract: Notoedric Mange was responsible for a population decline of bobcats (Lynx rufus) in 2 Southern California counties from 2002–2006 and is now reported to affect bobcats in Northern and Southern California. With this study we document clinical laboratory and necropsy findings for bobcats with Mange. Bobcats in this study included free-ranging bobcats with Mange (n = 34), a control group of free-ranging bobcats without Mange (n = 11), and a captive control group of bobcats without Mange (n = 19). We used 2 control groups to evaluate potential anomalies due to capture stress or diet. Free-ranging healthy and Mange-infected bobcats were trapped or salvaged. Animals were tested by serum biochemistry, complete blood count, urine protein and creatinine, body weight, necropsy, and assessment for anticoagulant rodenticide residues in liver tissue. Bobcats with severe Mange were emaciated, dehydrated, and anemic with low serum creatinine, hyperphosphatemia, hypoglycemia, hypernatremia, and hyperchloremia,...
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development and validation of a fecal pcr assay for notoedres cati and application to Notoedric Mange cases in bobcats lynx rufus in northern california usa
Journal of Wildlife Diseases, 2013Co-Authors: Nicole Stephenson, Deana L. Clifford, Laurel E K Serieys, Joy S Worth, Janet E FoleyAbstract:Notoedric Mange in felids is a devastating disease caused by a hypersensitivity reaction to the mite Notoedres cati. The burrowing of the mite causes intense pruritis resulting in self-mutilation, secondary bacterial infection, and often death of affected felids if left untreated. Our understanding of how Notoedric Mange is maintained in felid populations, and the true geographic extent of infestations, has been hampered because wild felids are elusive and, thus, traditional diagnostic methods are difficult to implement. To create a noninvasive diagnostic test, we developed and validated a novel PCR assay to detect N. cati DNA in fecal samples of bobcats (Lynx rufus) and used this assay to investigate a recent outbreak of Mange in northern California, United States. Although the fecal PCR assay was 100% specific and could detect as few as 1.9 mites/200 μg of feces, it had a moderate sensitivity of 52.6%, potentially due to intermittent shedding of mites in feces or fecal PCR inhibitors. In a field investigation, 12% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.06, 0.23) of fecal samples (n=65) collected from Rancho San Antonia County Park and Open Space Preserve in Santa Clara County, California were PCR-positive for N. cati. When this estimate was adjusted for test sensitivity, the corrected proportion for fecal samples containing N. cati was 23% (95% CI: 0.14, 0.36), suggesting widespread Mange in this area. This novel PCR assay will be an important tool to assess the distribution and spread of Notoedric Mange in bobcats and could be validated to test other wild felids such as mountain lions (Puma concolor). The assay could also be used to detect Notoedric Mange in domestic cats (Felis catus), particularly feral cats, which may also suffer from Mange and could represent an important contributor to Mange in periurban bobcat populations.
Seth P D Riley - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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widespread anticoagulant poison exposure is linked with immune dysregulation and severe Notoedric Mange in urban bobcats
Proceedings of the Vertebrate Pest Conference, 2018Co-Authors: Laurel E K Serieys, Seth P D Riley, Janet E Foley, Amanda J Lea, Marta Epeldegui, Joanne Gale Moriarty, Christel H Uittenbogaart, Devaughn L Fraser, Alice Mouton, Robert K WayneAbstract:Author(s): Serieys, Laurel E. K.; Lea, Amanda; Epeldegui, Marta; Foley, Janet; Moriarty, Joanne Gale; Riley, Seth P. D.; Uittenbogaart, Christel H.; Fraser, Devaughn; Mouton, Alice; Wayne, Robert K. | Abstract: Human activities threaten wildlife with a variety of novel stressors such as exposure to toxicants. Anticoagulant rodenticides (ARs) are toxicants applied worldwide and through bioaccumulation, threaten species that prey on poisoned rodents or their predators. We studied a population of urban bobcats in southern California that declined rapidly from 2002-2005 due to Notoedric Mange. We first assessed prevalence of AR exposure using blood and liver samples across the population and found widespread exposure (g90%). Death associated with Mange was strongly correlated with cumulative first- and second-generation AR exposure. These findings suggested that exposure to both first- and second-generation ARs were an underlying cause of the disease. We next aimed to understand the sublethal immunological and physiological effects of AR exposure in this natural population. We used two approaches: 1) we used a comprehensive suite of health assays (complete blood counts, blood chemistry assessment, and immunological profiling), and 2) we quantified AR-induced differential gene expression in blood for a subset of individuals. We found that sublethal AR exposure, primarily measured as exposure to diphacinone, is associated with hallmark indicators of generalized systemic inflammation that in persistence could promote immune dysfunction. Further, differential gene expression findings supported the results of immunological profiling. Further, a decrease in the expression of genes associated with epithelial maintenance simultaneous to a decrease in gene expression linked with ectoparasitic immune response may explain the link between AR exposure and Mange vulnerability. Such indirect effects of sublethal exposure exemplify the challenge of protecting wild populations from common toxicants in human-dominated environments.
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Serieys_Supp_Fig_Captions_ESM.docx from Urbanization and anticoagulant poisons promote immune dysfunction in bobcats
2017Co-Authors: Laurel E K Serieys, Amanda J Lea, Marta Epeldegui, Robert K Wayne, Tiffany C. Armenta, Joanne Moriarty, Sue Vandewoude, Scott Carver, Janet Foley, Seth P D RileyAbstract:Understanding how human activities influence immune response to environmental stressors can support biodiversity conservation across increasingly urbanizing landscapes. We studied a bobcat (Lynx rufus) population in urban southern California that experienced a rapid population decline from 2002–2005 due to Notoedric Mange. Because anticoagulant rodenticide (AR) exposure was an underlying complication in Mange deaths, we aimed to understand sublethal contributions of urbanization and ARs on 65 biochemical markers of immune and organ function. Variance in immunological variables was primarily associated with AR exposure and secondarily with urbanization. Use of urban habitat and AR exposure has pervasive, complex and predictable effects on biochemical markers of immune and organ function in free-ranging bobcats that include impacts on neutrophil, lymphocyte and cytokine populations, total bilirubin and phosphorus. We find evidence of both inflammatory response and immune suppression associated with urban land use and rat poison exposure that could influence susceptibility to opportunistic infections. Consequently, AR exposure may influence mortality and has population-level effects, as previous work in the focal population has revealed substantial mortality caused by Mange infection. The secondary effects of anticoagulant exposure may be a worldwide, largely unrecognized problem affecting a variety of vertebrate species in human-dominated environments
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A synthetic review of notoedres species mites and Mange.
Parasitology, 2016Co-Authors: Janet E Foley, Seth P D Riley, Nicole Stephenson, Colin W. Foley, Megan K. Jennings, Greta M. Wengert, Winston Vickers, Erin E. Boydston, Lisa L. LyrenAbstract:Notoedric Mange, caused by obligately parasitic sarcoptiform Notoedres mites, is associated with potentially fatal dermatitis with secondary systemic disease in small mammals, felids and procyonids among others, as well as an occasional zoonosis. We describe clinical spectra in non-chiropteran hosts, review risk factors and summarize ecological and epidemiological studies. The genus is disproportionately represented on rodents. Disease in felids and procyonids ranges from very mild to death. Knowledge of the geographical distribution of the mites is highly inadequate, with focal hot spots known for Notoedres cati in domestic cats and bobcats. Predisposing genetic and immunological factors are not known, except that co-infection with other parasites and anticoagulant rodenticide toxicoses may contribute to severe disease. Treatment of individual animals is typically successful with macrocytic lactones such as selamectin, but herd or wildlife population treatment has not been undertaken. Transmission requires close contact and typically is within a host species. Notoedric Mange can kill half all individuals in a population and regulate host population below non-diseased density for decades, consistent with frequency-dependent transmission or spillover from other hosts. Epidemics are increasingly identified in various hosts, suggesting global change in suitable environmental conditions or increased reporting bias.
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exposure of wildlife to anticoagulant rodenticides at santa monica mountains national recreation area from mountain lions to rodents
Proceedings of the Vertebrate Pest Conference, 2012Co-Authors: Joanne Gale Moriarty, Seth P D Riley, Laurel E K Serieys, Jeff A Sikich, Cathy M Schoonmaker, Robert H. PoppengaAbstract:Author(s): Moriarty, Joanne Gale; Riley, Seth P. D.; Serieys, Laurel E.; Sikich, Jeff A.; Schoonmaker, Cathy M.; Poppenga, Robert H. | Abstract: A 15-year study of carnivores in an urban landscape in southern California has revealed a high incidence of exposure of non-target wildlife to anticoagulant rodenticides (ARs). All carnivore species studied, including mountain lions, coyotes, bobcats, and gray foxes, have tested positive for exposure to the toxicants. Anticoagulant residues have been detected in post-mortem liver samples at a rate of 83-93% of individuals tested, for coyotes, bobcats, and mountain lions, the three species for which we have extensive sampling. We have also documented mortalities caused directly by exposure to ARs in all four species, particularly in the canids. In both felid species, we found a positive correlation between AR exposure and Mange disease, specifically Notoedric Mange. The incidence of fatal Mange infection in bobcats has been at epizootic levels since 2002 in our study area, and more recently outbreaks of the disease have been documented in several other populations in California, all apparently (where testing has been done) in association with exposure to ARs. There are no previously reported instances of epizootics of Notoedric Mange in any wild felid population. Carnivore exposure to these toxicants appears to be largely secondary (or tertiary, as may be the case in mountain lions) through consumption of their natural prey. In our most recent work, we have evaluated AR exposure of carnivore prey species, including rodents and lagomorphs. We have documented exposure in ground squirrels and woodrats, both of which are regularly consumed by gray foxes, coyotes, and bobcats. Overall, we have found widespread exposure of non-target wildlife to these toxicants, with potentially significant consequences for some species.
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anticoagulant exposure and Notoedric Mange in bobcats and mountain lions in urban southern california
Journal of Wildlife Management, 2007Co-Authors: Seth P D Riley, Robert H. Poppenga, Francisco A Uzal, Cassity Bromley, Lynn Whited, Raymond M SauvajotAbstract:Abstract Humans introduce many toxicants into the environment, the long-term and indirect effects of which are generally unknown. We investigated exposure to anticoagulant rodenticides and evaluated the association between Notoedric Mange, an ectoparasitic disease, and anticoagulant exposure in bobcats (Lynx rufus) and mountain lions (Puma concolor) in a fragmented urban landscape in southern California, USA. Beginning in 2002, an epizootic of Notoedric Mange, a disease previously reported only as isolated cases in wild felids, in 2 years reduced the annual survival rate of bobcats from 0.77 (5-yr average) to 0.28. Anticoagulants were present in 35 of 39 (90%) bobcats we tested, multiple compounds were present in 27 of these 35 (77%), and total toxicant load was positively associated with the use of developed areas by radiocollared animals. Mange-associated mortality in bobcats showed a strong association with anticoagulant exposure, as 19 of 19 (100%) bobcats that died with severe Mange were also exposed...
Deana L. Clifford - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Pathologic findings in Western gray squirrels (Sciurus griseus) from a Notoedric Mange epidemic in the San Bernardino Mountains, California
International journal for parasitology. Parasites and wildlife, 2013Co-Authors: Nicole Stephenson, Pam Swift, Jeffrey T. Villepique, Deana L. Clifford, Akinyi C Nyaoke, Janet Moore, Alfonso Mora, Janet E FoleyAbstract:Notoedric Mange, caused by the contagious, burrowing mite Notoedres centrifera, has been associated with several large-scale population declines of western gray squirrels (Sciurus griseus) and has been a significant obstacle to population recovery in Washington State where the species is listed as threatened. In 2009, residents and wildlife rehabilitators in the isolated San Bernardino Mountains of southern California reported a dramatic die-off of western gray squirrels, in what had been a previously dense and robust population. Individuals were observed suffering from abnormal neurologic behaviors (ataxia and obtundation) and severe skin disease. Full necropsy of five squirrels from the epidemic showed that all had moderate to severe infestation with Mange mites and severe dermatitis characterized by hyperkeratosis, acanthosis, intralesional mites, intracorneal pustules and superficial bacteria. Mites from affected squirrels were evaluated by light and electron microscopy and identified as N. centrifera based on morphologic criteria. Additionally, the internal transcribed spacer-2 region of the mite was cloned, sequenced and accessioned in GenBank. The cause for the abnormal neurologic behavior was not confirmed on post-mortem examination. However, we hypothesize that Mange can cause incoordination and obtundation as a result of malnutrition and dehydration, and intense pruritis may induce abnormal or erratic behavior that could be mistaken for neurologic signs. While we have characterized the severe impact this disease can have on individual animals, more work is needed to understand the impact on squirrel populations, particularly in view of the anecdotal reports of dramatic population declines that may take decades to recover.
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development and validation of a fecal pcr assay for notoedres cati and application to Notoedric Mange cases in bobcats lynx rufus in northern california usa
Journal of Wildlife Diseases, 2013Co-Authors: Nicole Stephenson, Deana L. Clifford, Laurel E K Serieys, Joy S Worth, Janet E FoleyAbstract:Notoedric Mange in felids is a devastating disease caused by a hypersensitivity reaction to the mite Notoedres cati. The burrowing of the mite causes intense pruritis resulting in self-mutilation, secondary bacterial infection, and often death of affected felids if left untreated. Our understanding of how Notoedric Mange is maintained in felid populations, and the true geographic extent of infestations, has been hampered because wild felids are elusive and, thus, traditional diagnostic methods are difficult to implement. To create a noninvasive diagnostic test, we developed and validated a novel PCR assay to detect N. cati DNA in fecal samples of bobcats (Lynx rufus) and used this assay to investigate a recent outbreak of Mange in northern California, United States. Although the fecal PCR assay was 100% specific and could detect as few as 1.9 mites/200 μg of feces, it had a moderate sensitivity of 52.6%, potentially due to intermittent shedding of mites in feces or fecal PCR inhibitors. In a field investigation, 12% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.06, 0.23) of fecal samples (n=65) collected from Rancho San Antonia County Park and Open Space Preserve in Santa Clara County, California were PCR-positive for N. cati. When this estimate was adjusted for test sensitivity, the corrected proportion for fecal samples containing N. cati was 23% (95% CI: 0.14, 0.36), suggesting widespread Mange in this area. This novel PCR assay will be an important tool to assess the distribution and spread of Notoedric Mange in bobcats and could be validated to test other wild felids such as mountain lions (Puma concolor). The assay could also be used to detect Notoedric Mange in domestic cats (Felis catus), particularly feral cats, which may also suffer from Mange and could represent an important contributor to Mange in periurban bobcat populations.
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DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF A FECAL PCR ASSAY FOR NOTOEDRES CATI AND APPLICATION TO Notoedric Mange CASES IN BOBCATS (LYNX RUFUS) IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA, USA
Journal of wildlife diseases, 2013Co-Authors: Nicole Stephenson, Deana L. Clifford, Laurel E K Serieys, S. Joy Worth, Janet E FoleyAbstract:Notoedric Mange in felids is a devastating disease caused by a hypersensitivity reaction to the mite Notoedres cati. The burrowing of the mite causes intense pruritis resulting in self-mutilation, secondary bacterial infection, and often death of affected felids if left untreated. Our understanding of how Notoedric Mange is maintained in felid populations, and the true geographic extent of infestations, has been hampered because wild felids are elusive and, thus, traditional diagnostic methods are difficult to implement. To create a noninvasive diagnostic test, we developed and validated a novel PCR assay to detect N. cati DNA in fecal samples of bobcats (Lynx rufus) and used this assay to investigate a recent outbreak of Mange in northern California, United States. Although the fecal PCR assay was 100% specific and could detect as few as 1.9 mites/200 μg of feces, it had a moderate sensitivity of 52.6%, potentially due to intermittent shedding of mites in feces or fecal PCR inhibitors. In a field investi...
