Abstract
A retrospective serosurvey of multi-host feline and canine viruses among carnivore species in
southern Africa (n = 1018) identified widespread pathogen exposure even in remote protected
areas. In contrast to morality experienced in East African predators, canine distemper virus
(CDV) infection among African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus) in Botswana was not associated with
identifiable change in pup survivorship or disease related mortality of adults. A disease outbreak
of unknown aetiology occurred in the same population over 4 weeks in 1996. Outbreak
boundaries coincided with ecotones, not the spatial distribution of contiguous packs, highlighting
the potential importance of landscape heterogeneities in these processes. Direct management of
pathogens in domestic animal reservoirs is complicated by the apparent complexity of pathogen
maintenance and transmission in these large systems. Conservation effort should be focused at
securing large metapopulations able to compensate for expected episodic generalist pathogen invasion and attention directed to addressing underlying causes of population depression such as
habitat loss and wildlife conflict.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:tut/oai:encore.tut.ac.za:d1001215 |
| Date | 25 November 2008 |
| Creators | Alexander, KA, McNutt, JW, Briggs, MB, Standers, PE, Funston, P, Hemston, G, Keet, D, Van Vuuren, M |
| Publisher | Elsevier |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | |
| Rights | c 2008 Elsevier Ltd. |
| Relation | Comparative Immunology, Microbiology and Infectious Diseases |
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