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C A Spinage - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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rinderpest the great Panzootic and its after effects
2012Co-Authors: C A SpinageAbstract:Rinderpest is a highly contagious viral disease of the myxovirus group which although convincing evidence for many species is lacking (Scott 1959), probably infects all members of the order Artiodactyla. It forms a subgroup with canine distemper and human measles and has been shown experimentally to produce resistance to canine distemper in dogs, leaving the virus with enhanced virulence for cattle. The virus is fragile, rapidly destroyed at temperatures of 56–60°C, by drying, or by exposure to ultra-violet light. It is sensitive also to pH changes and to effects of putrefaction. Infected carcasses in the tropics are thus rendered harmless within a few hours and one wonders how such a fragile organism can spread so easily, for natural infection in ungulates is airborne and requires close contact, perhaps spreading mainly at night. The role of carrion feeders and bloodsucking diptera is regarded as minimal in transmission.
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The Tsetse Fly II: Decline and Recovery
African Ecology, 2011Co-Authors: C A SpinageAbstract:Why did Burton, writing in 1860, refer to the tsetse fly as not having died out in eastern Africa? Although in southern Africa its range retracted before the rinderpest Panzootic of 1896 this was generally not commented upon until after that date, long after Burton wrote. In 1888 an article in the 9th edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica noted the tsetse fly in South Africa appeared to be gradually retreating northwards “following the big game”. The northern limits of its distribution were not known.
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The Tsetse Fly I: Africa’s Bane and Benefice
African Ecology, 2011Co-Authors: C A SpinageAbstract:Almost contemporaneous with the rinderpest Panzootic another calamity to ravage Africa was that caused by the tsetse fly Glossina, a blood-sucking dipterous insect feeding principally upon large mammals, but also small mammals, birds, and reptiles. At first it was thought to inject a poison or an infectious agent and it was not until 1895, more than 50 years after the first records of the fly were made known, that Bruce in Zululand identified the cause of the illness the fly produced in cattle. The fly is an intermediate host and vector of the flagellate protozoan trypanosomes, some of which are fatal to man and domestic animals. The saliva of the fly contains a powerful blood anti-coagulant which is injected into the host by means of the serrated proboscis when it feeds, transferring trypanosomes at the same time. Inhabiting over 10 million km2 in 38 African countries from wooded savannahs to forests, riverine, and lacustrine vegetation, between the Sahara and Kalahari deserts, the tsetse fly has conferred both a blessing and a curse upon the continent.
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the great african rinderpest Panzootic
2003Co-Authors: C A SpinageAbstract:From 1151 to 1169, in company with Ireland, Italy, Gaul, Sicily, Judaea, and Asia, there was “famine and pestilence” in Africa following severe winters and dry summers, where “Africa” probably meant Egypt, Libya, or Morocco. But we have little other information on pestilence in Africa until Bruce reported of Sennar in the Sudan in 1772: No horse, mule, or any beast of burden, will breed, or even live at Sennaar, or many miles about it. Poultry does not live there. Neither dog nor cat, sheep nor bullock, can be preserved a season there. They must go all, every half-year, to the sands. Though all possible care be taken of them, they die in every place where the fat earth is about the town during the first season of the rains. We cannot determine what was causing such mortality but a few pages on he continues: Nothing is more pleasant than the country around Sennaar, in the end of August and beginning of September, I mean so far as the eye is concerned... Every where on these banks are seen numerous herds of the most beautiful cattle of various kinds, the tribute recently extorted from the Arabs, who, freed from all their vexations, return home with the remainder of their flocks in peace .... (Bruce, 1790)
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the Panzootic reaches south africa
2003Co-Authors: C A SpinageAbstract:But a far more general plague than the small-pox, and a much more terrible scourge than the locusts, suddenly made its appearance, and dogged our steps. This was the rinderpest.
Rachael E Antwis - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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amphibian skin defences show variation in ability to inhibit growth of batrachochytrium dendrobatidis isolates from the global Panzootic lineage
Microbiology, 2017Co-Authors: Rachael E Antwis, Che WeldonAbstract:The fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis has caused declines and extinctions in hundreds of amphibian species across the world. Virulence varies among and within lineages; the Global Panzootic Lineage (GPL) is the most pathogenic, although there is also variation in lethality among GPL isolates. Amphibians have a number of defences against pathogens, and skin products including the microbiota and host peptides have considerable influence over disease progression. Here we demonstrate that the collective skin products (the mucosome) of two amphibian species show significant variation in their ability to inhibit different globally distributed isolates of GPL. This may in part explain the variation in disease susceptibility of hosts to different strains of B. dendrobatidis. More work is required to identify particular traits associated with mucosomes that confer broad-spectrum inhibition across GPL in order to facilitate the development of prophylaxis and/or treatments for chytridiomycosis in situ.
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amphibian symbiotic bacteria do not show a universal ability to inhibit growth of the global Panzootic lineage of batrachochytrium dendrobatidis
Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 2015Co-Authors: Trenton W. J. Garner, Rachael E Antwis, Richard F Preziosi, Xavier A HarrisonAbstract:Microbiomes associated with multicellular organisms influence the disease susceptibility of hosts. The potential exists for such bacteria to protect wildlife from infectious diseases, particularly in the case of the globally distributed and highly virulent fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis of the global Panzootic lineage (B. dendrobatidis GPL), responsible for mass extinctions and population declines of amphibians. B. dendrobatidis GPL exhibits wide genotypic and virulence variation, and the ability of candidate probiotics to restrict growth across B. dendrobatidis isolates has not previously been considered. Here we show that only a small proportion of candidate probiotics exhibited broad-spectrum inhibition across B. dendrobatidis GPL isolates. Moreover, some bacterial genera showed significantly greater inhibition than others, but overall, genus and species were not particularly reliable predictors of inhibitory capabilities. These findings indicate that bacterial consortia are likely to offer a more stable and effective approach to probiotics, particularly if related bacteria are selected from genera with greater antimicrobial capabilities. Together these results highlight a complex interaction between pathogens and host-associated symbiotic bacteria that will require consideration in the development of bacterial probiotics for wildlife conservation. Future efforts to construct protective microbiomes should incorporate bacteria that exhibit broad-spectrum inhibition of B. dendrobatidis GPL isolates.
Matthew H Slater - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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balancing the costs of wildlife research with the benefits of understanding a Panzootic disease white nose syndrome
Ilar Journal, 2016Co-Authors: Deeann M Reeder, Kenneth A Field, Matthew H SlaterAbstract:: Additional ethical issues surrounding wildlife research compared with biomedical research include consideration of the harm of research to the ecosystem as a whole and the benefits of conservation to the same species of animals under study. Research on white-nose syndrome in bats provides a case study to apply these considerations to determine whether research that harms ecosystems under crisis is justified. By expanding well-established guidelines for animal and human subjects research, we demonstrate that this research can be considered highly justified. Studies must minimize the amount of harm to the ecosystem while maximizing the knowledge gained. However, the likelihood of direct application of the results of the research for conservation should not necessarily take priority over other considerations, particularly when the entire context of the ecologic disaster is poorly understood. Since the emergence of white-nose syndrome, researchers have made great strides in understanding this Panzootic disease and are now in a position to utilize this knowledge to mitigate this wildlife crisis.
Thomas G Hallam - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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the Panzootic white nose syndrome an environmentally constrained disease
Transboundary and Emerging Diseases, 2012Co-Authors: Thomas G Hallam, Paula FedericoAbstract:Summary White-nose syndrome (WNS) is an emerging disease of hibernating bats probably caused by a pathogenic fungus, Geomyces destructans. The fungus has dispersed rapidly in the Northeastern United States and Canada and is presently a serious risk to hibernating bats of the mid-southern United States. Our objectives were to investigate how the environmental factors of temperature and resources impact the physiology of bats and apply this to explore possible effects of the fungus G. destructans on bats. Using a dynamic, physiologically based model parameterized for little brown bats (Myotis lucifugus), we found that the survival region defined in terms of minimal and maximal cave temperatures and bat lipid reserve levels exhibits plasticity as a function of cave temperature. During the pre-hibernation period, constellations of increased availability of fall and winter prey, reduced energy expenditure and lipogenic factors provide fat deposition in hibernator species that engender survival throughout the hibernation period. The model-derived survival region is used to demonstrate that small increases in lipid reserves allow survival under increasing maximum temperatures, which provides flexibility of bat persistence at the higher cave temperature ranges that may occur in the Southern United States. Antipodally, the lower-temperature survival range is bounded with minimum temperatures. Our results suggest that there is an environmental distinction between survival of bats in Southern and Northern US states, a relationship that could prove very important in managing WNS and its dispersal.
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management of the Panzootic white nose syndrome through culling of bats
Conservation Biology, 2011Co-Authors: Thomas G Hallam, Gary F MccrackenAbstract:: The probability of persistence of many species of hibernating bats in the United States is greatly reduced by an emerging infectious disease, white-nose syndrome (WNS). In the United States WNS is rapidly spreading and is associated with a psychrophilic fungus, Geomyces destructans. WNS has caused massive mortality of bats that hibernate. Efforts to control the disease have been ineffective. The culling of bats in hibernacula has been proposed as a way to break the transmission cycle or slow the spread of WNS. We formulated a disease model to examine the efficacy of culling to abate WNS in bat populations. We based the model dynamics on disease transmission in maternity roosts, swarms, and hibernacula, which are the arenas of contact among bats. Our simulations indicated culling will not control WNS in bats primarily because contact rates are high among colonial bats, contact occurs in multiple arenas, and periodic movement between arenas occurs. In general, culling is ineffective in the control of animal diseases in the wild. Resumen: La probabilidad de la persistencia de muchas especies invernantes de murcielagos en Estados Unidos se reduce enormemente por una enfermedad infecciosa emergente, el sindrome de nariz blanca (SNB). En Estados Unidos, SNB se esta dispersando rapidamente y se asocia con un hongo hipotermofilico Geomyces destructans. El sindrome de nariz blanca ha causado mortalidad masiva de murcielagos que invernan. Los esfuerzos para controlar la enfermedad no han sido efectivos. La seleccion de murcielagos en los sitios de hibernacion ha sido propuesta como una manera para interrumpir el ciclo de transmision o reducir la dispersion de SNB. Formulamos un modelo de la enfermedad para examinar la eficacia de la seleccion para abatir SNB en las poblaciones de murcielagos. Basamos la dinamica del modelo en la transmision de la enfermedad en sitios de maternidad, enjambres y sitios de hibernacion, que son los escenarios de contacto entre murcielagos. Nuestras simulaciones indicaron que la seleccion no controlara SNB en murcielagos principalmente porque las tasas de contacto son altas en los murcielagos coloniales, el contacto ocurre en multiples escenarios y porque ocurren movimientos periodicos en los escenarios. En general, la seleccion no es efectiva para el control de enfermedades de animales silvestres.
Surachmi Setiyaningsih - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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identification of new sub genotypes of virulent newcastle disease virus with potential Panzootic features
Infection Genetics and Evolution, 2015Co-Authors: Patti J Miller, Ruth Haddas, Luba Simanov, Avishay Lublin, Shafqat Fatima Rehmani, Abdul Wajid, Tasra Bibi, Taseer Ahmad Khan, Tahir Yaqub, Surachmi SetiyaningsihAbstract:Abstract Virulent Newcastle disease virus (NDV) isolates from new sub-genotypes within genotype VII are rapidly spreading through Asia and the Middle East causing outbreaks of Newcastle disease (ND) characterized by significant illness and mortality in poultry, suggesting the existence of a fifth Panzootic. These viruses, which belong to the new sub-genotypes VIIh and VIIi, have epizootic characteristics and do not appear to have originated directly from other genotype VII NDV isolates that are currently circulating elsewhere, but are related to the present and past Indonesian NDV viruses isolated from wild birds since the 80s. Viruses from sub-genotype VIIh were isolated in Indonesia (2009–2010), Malaysia (2011), China (2011), and Cambodia (2011–2012) and are closely related to the Indonesian NDV isolated in 2007, APMV1/Chicken/Karangasem, Indonesia (Bali-01)/2007. Since 2011 and during 2012 highly related NDV isolates from sub-genotype VIIi have been isolated from poultry production facilities and occasionally from pet birds, throughout Indonesia, Pakistan and Israel. In Pakistan, the viruses of sub-genotype VIIi have replaced NDV isolates of genotype XIII, which were commonly isolated in 2009–2011, and they have become the predominant sub-genotype causing ND outbreaks since 2012. In a similar fashion, the numbers of viruses of sub-genotype VIIi isolated in Israel increased in 2012, and isolates from this sub-genotype are now found more frequently than viruses from the previously predominant sub-genotypes VIId and VIIb, from 2009 to 2012. All NDV isolates of sub-genotype VIIi are approximately 99% identical to each other and are more closely related to Indonesian viruses isolated from 1983 through 1990 than to those of genotype VII, still circulating in the region. Similarly, in addition to the Pakistani NDV isolates of the original genotype XIII (now called sub-genotype XIIIa), there is an additional sub-genotype (XIIIb) that was initially detected in India and Iran. This sub-genotype also appears to have as an ancestor a NDV strain from an Indian cockatoo isolated in1982. These data suggest the existence of a new Panzootic composed of viruses of subgenotype VIIi and support our previous findings of co-evolution of multiple virulent NDV genotypes in unknown reservoirs, e.g. as recorded with the virulent NDV identified in Dominican Republic in 2008. The co-evolution of at least three different sub-genotypes reported here and the apparent close relationship of some of those genotypes from ND viruses isolated from wild birds, suggests that identifying wild life reservoirs may help predict new Panzootics.
