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Maison RM, Priore MR, Brown VR, Bodenchuk MJ, Borlee BR, Bowen RA, Bosco-Lauth AM. Feral Swine as Indirect Indicators of Environmental Anthrax Contamination and Potential Mechanical Vectors of Infectious Spores. Pathogens 2023; 12:pathogens12040622. [PMID: 37111508 PMCID: PMC10142851 DOI: 10.3390/pathogens12040622] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2023] [Revised: 04/12/2023] [Accepted: 04/19/2023] [Indexed: 04/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Anthrax is a disease that affects livestock, wildlife, and humans worldwide; however, its relative impacts on these populations remain underappreciated. Feral swine (Sus scrofa) are relatively resistant to developing anthrax, and past serosurveys have alluded to their utility as sentinels, yet empirical data to support this are lacking. Moreover, whether feral swine may assist in the dissemination of infectious spores is unknown. To address these knowledge gaps, we intranasally inoculated 15 feral swine with varying quantities of Bacillus anthracis Sterne 34F2 spores and measured the seroconversion and bacterial shedding over time. The animals also were inoculated either one or three times. The sera were evaluated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for antibodies against B. anthracis, and nasal swabs were cultured to detect bacterial shedding from the nasal passages. We report that the feral swine developed antibody responses to B. anthracis and that the strength of the response correlated with the inoculum dose and the number of exposure events experienced. Isolation of viable bacteria from the nasal passages of the animals throughout the study period suggests that feral swine may assist in the spread of infectious spores on the landscape and have implications for the identification of environments contaminated with B. anthracis as well as the exposure risk to more susceptible hosts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rachel M Maison
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80521, USA
| | - Maggie R Priore
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Pathology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80521, USA
| | - Vienna R Brown
- U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Wildlife Services, National Wildlife Research Center, Fort Collins, CO 80521, USA
| | - Michael J Bodenchuk
- U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Wildlife Services, San Antonio, TX 78269, USA
| | - Bradley R Borlee
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Pathology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80521, USA
| | - Richard A Bowen
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80521, USA
| | - Angela M Bosco-Lauth
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80521, USA
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Bassy O, Antwerpen M, Ortega-García MV, Ortega-Sánchez MJ, Bouzada JA, Cabria-Ramos JC, Grass G. Spanish Outbreak Isolates Bridge Phylogenies of European and American Bacillus anthracis. Microorganisms 2023; 11:microorganisms11040889. [PMID: 37110312 PMCID: PMC10146487 DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms11040889] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2023] [Revised: 03/17/2023] [Accepted: 03/26/2023] [Indexed: 03/31/2023] Open
Abstract
The geographical origin of a major present-day phylogenetic group (A branch WNA; A.Br.WNA) of American Bacillus anthracis is controversial. One hypothesis postulated that the anthrax pathogen reached North America via a then-existing land bridge from northeastern Asia thousands of years ago. A competing hypothesis suggested that B. anthracis was introduced to America a couple of hundred years ago, related to European colonization. The latter view is strongly supported by genomic analysis of a group of French B. anthracis isolates that are phylogenetically closely related to the North American strains of the A branch A.Br.WNA clade. In addition, three West African strains also belong to this relationship group. Recently, we have added a Spanish strain to these close relatives of the WNA lineage of American B. anthracis. Nevertheless, the diversity of Spanish B. anthracis remains largely unexplored, and phylogenetic links to European or American relatives are not well resolved. Here, we genome sequenced and characterized 29 new B. anthracis isolates (yielding 18 unique genotypes) from outbreaks in west central and central Spain in 2021. Applying comparative chromosomal analysis, we placed the chromosomes of these isolates within the established phylogeny of the A.Br.008/009 (A.Br.TEA) canonical SNP group. From this analysis, a new sub-clade, named A.Br.11/ESPc, emerged that constitutes a sister group of American A.Br.WNA.
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Affiliation(s)
- Olga Bassy
- Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) Defence Systems Department, Campus La Marañosa, Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial “Esteban Terradas” (INTA), 28330 San Martín de la Vega, Madrid, Spain
| | - Markus Antwerpen
- Bundeswehr Institute of Microbiology (IMB), 80937 Munich, Germany
| | - María Victoria Ortega-García
- Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) Defence Systems Department, Campus La Marañosa, Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial “Esteban Terradas” (INTA), 28330 San Martín de la Vega, Madrid, Spain
| | - María Jesús Ortega-Sánchez
- Laboratorio Central de Sanidad Animal (LCSA), Ministerio de Agricultura Pesca y Alimentación (MAPA), 18320 Santa Fe, Granada, Spain
| | - José Antonio Bouzada
- Laboratorio Central de Veterinaria, Ministerio de Agricultura Pesca y Alimentación (MAPA), 28110 Algete, Madrid, Spain
| | - Juan Carlos Cabria-Ramos
- Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) Defence Systems Department, Campus La Marañosa, Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial “Esteban Terradas” (INTA), 28330 San Martín de la Vega, Madrid, Spain
| | - Gregor Grass
- Bundeswehr Institute of Microbiology (IMB), 80937 Munich, Germany
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +49-992692-3981
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Paterlini CA, Bó MS, Saggese MD, Biondi LM. HEMATOLOGY AND PLASMA BIOCHEMISTRY REFERENCE INTERVALS FOR FREE-LIVING ADULT CHIMANGO CARACARA ( MILVAGO CHIMANGO) DURING THE NONBREEDING SEASON. J Zoo Wildl Med 2023; 54:56-64. [PMID: 36971629 DOI: 10.1638/2021-0147] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/18/2022] [Indexed: 03/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Hematological and blood biochemistry values are useful in assessing the physiological, nutritional, and overall health status of captive and free-living wildlife. For the chimango caracara (Milvago chimango), the most common raptor species in Argentina, reference intervals (RIs) for hematology and blood biochemistry are lacking. For this study, 86 chimango caracaras were captured and studied in Mar del Plata and neighboring areas (Buenos Aires, Argentina) during winter (April-July) in 2018 and 2019. This is the first study to present RIs for 33 blood parameters in a large number of free-living chimango caracaras during the nonbreeding season. In addition, the variability of blood parameters according to sex and calendar year was analyzed. Overall, values for the studied parameters were similar to those described for other raptor species. There were significant differences between years for absolute monocyte counts, relative eosinophils, monocyte counts, glucose, phosphorus, and alanine aminotransferase. Only the relative count of eosinophils, aspartate aminotransferase, and calcium showed significant differences between the sexes. The values of absolute monocyte counts and the relative count of eosinophils and monocytes, glucose, phosphorus, and alanine aminotransferase were higher in 2019 than in 2018, whereas mean corpuscular hemoglobin and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration were higher in 2018. Relative eosinophil counts were higher for males than for females, and aspartate aminotransferase activity and calcium concentration were significantly higher for females than for males. The RIs for hematology and plasma biochemistry from this large number of chimango caracaras is of clinical relevance not only for chimango caracaras under medical care in rehabilitation centers but also in ecological studies aimed to investigate the physiological responses of this species to natural and anthropogenic changes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carla A Paterlini
- Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras (IIMyC), Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, UNMdP-CONICET, B7602GSD Mar del Plata, Argentina,
| | - María Susana Bó
- Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras (IIMyC), Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, UNMdP-CONICET, B7602GSD Mar del Plata, Argentina
| | - Miguel D Saggese
- College of Veterinary Medicine, Western University of Health Sciences, Pomona, CA 91766, USA
| | - Laura M Biondi
- Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras (IIMyC), Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, UNMdP-CONICET, B7602GSD Mar del Plata, Argentina
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Maison RM, Pierce CF, Ragan IK, Brown VR, Bodenchuk MJ, Bowen RA, Bosco-Lauth AM. Potential Use for Serosurveillance of Feral Swine to Map Risk for Anthrax Exposure, Texas, USA. Emerg Infect Dis 2021; 27:3103-3110. [PMID: 34808089 PMCID: PMC8632180 DOI: 10.3201/eid2712.211482] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Anthrax is a disease of concern in many mammals, including humans. Management primarily consists of prevention through vaccination and tracking clinical-level observations because environmental isolation is laborious and bacterial distribution across large geographic areas difficult to confirm. Feral swine (Sus scrofa) are an invasive species with an extensive range in the southern United States that rarely succumbs to anthrax. We present evidence that feral swine might serve as biosentinels based on comparative seroprevalence in swine from historically defined anthrax-endemic and non–anthrax-endemic regions of Texas. Overall seropositivity was 43.7% (n = 478), and logistic regression revealed county endemicity status, age-class, sex, latitude, and longitude were informative for predicting antibody status. However, of these covariates, only latitude was statistically significant (β = –0.153, p = 0.047). These results suggests anthrax exposure in swine, when paired with continuous location data, could serve as a proxy for bacterial presence in specific areas.
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Oakley BB, Melgarejo T, Bloom PH, Abedi N, Blumhagen E, Saggese MD. Emerging Pathogenic Gammaproteobacteria Wohlfahrtiimonas chitiniclastica and Ignatzschineria Species in a Turkey Vulture ( Cathartes aura). J Avian Med Surg 2021; 35:280-289. [PMID: 34677026 DOI: 10.1647/19-00033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
New World vultures, such as turkey vultures (Cathartes aura), are obligate scavengers with large geographic ranges. In a preliminary characterization of the turkey vulture (TV) gastrointestinal microbiome in Southern California, we identified 2 recently described emerging bacterial pathogens not previously known to be associated with this avian species. High-throughput sequencing of broad-range 16S rRNA gene amplicons revealed sequences from TV cloacal swabs that were related closest to Wohlfahrtiimonas chitiniclastica and Ignatzschineria species, both Gammaproteobacteria considered by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as emerging zoonotic pathogens. None of these bacterial sequence types have been previously identified from samples obtained from the turkey vulture gastrointestinal microbiome. With the use of bioinformatics workflows previously established by our research group, we designed specific and sensitive polymerase chain reaction primer sets that represent novel diagnostic assays for the genera Wohlfahrtiimonas and Ignatzschineria. These primer sets were validated by Sanger sequence confirmation from complex TV samples. Because the genera Wohlfahrtiimonas and Ignatzschineria are both known to have dipteran hosts, the molecular diagnostic tools we present here should be useful for better understanding the role of flies, vultures, and other scavengers in the ecology and epidemiology of the genera Wohlfahrtiimonas and Ignatzschineria from a One Health perspective.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brian B Oakley
- College of Veterinary Medicine, Western University of Health Sciences, Pomona, CA 91766, USA
| | - Tonatiuh Melgarejo
- College of Veterinary Medicine, Western University of Health Sciences, Pomona, CA 91766, USA
| | | | - Nairi Abedi
- College of Veterinary Medicine, Western University of Health Sciences, Pomona, CA 91766, USA
| | - Emalee Blumhagen
- College of Veterinary Medicine, Western University of Health Sciences, Pomona, CA 91766, USA
| | - Miguel D Saggese
- College of Veterinary Medicine, Western University of Health Sciences, Pomona, CA 91766, USA,
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Walker MA, Uribasterra M, Asher V, Getz WM, Ryan SJ, Ponciano JM, Blackburn JK. Anthrax Surveillance and the Limited Overlap Between Obligate Scavengers and Endemic Anthrax Zones in the United States. Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis 2021; 21:675-684. [PMID: 34077293 PMCID: PMC8563459 DOI: 10.1089/vbz.2020.2747] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Anthrax is a zoonosis caused by the spore-forming bacterium Bacillus anthracis, with potential for high fatality rate, especially in herbivores. Upon host death, spores can enter the soil surrounding the carcass and be ingested by other animals feeding in the same location. Accordingly, surveillance to quickly identify and decontaminate anthrax carcasses is crucial to outbreak prevention. In endemic anthrax areas such as Texas and Africa, vultures are used as a surveillance tool for identifying presence and location of dead animals. However, many anthrax outbreaks in the United States have occurred in areas outside the ranges of both black and turkey vultures. Here, we used a longitudinal camera trap survey at carcass sites in southwestern Montana to investigate the utility of facultative avian scavengers on disease and carcass surveillance in a reemerging anthrax risk zone. From August 2016 to September 2018, camera traps at 11 carcass sites were triggered 1996 times by avian scavengers. While the majority were facultative avian scavengers such as corvids and eagles, our results suggest that facultative scavengers cannot replace vultures as a surveillance tool in this ecosystem due to their absence during the anthrax risk period (June to August), reduced search efficiency, or low flight patterns. We found that the conditions in Montana likely parallel systems elsewhere in the continental United States. Using ecological niche models of B. anthracis distribution overlaid with relative abundance maps of turkey vultures, we found that much of North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wyoming, Nebraska, and Iowa have areas of anthrax risk, but low or absent turkey vulture populations. Without vultures in these areas, surveillance capacity is reduced, and it becomes more difficult to identify anthrax cases, meaning fewer carcasses are decontaminated, and consequently, outbreaks could become more frequent or severe.
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Affiliation(s)
- Morgan A. Walker
- Spatial Epidemiology and Ecology Research Laboratory, Department of Geography, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
- Emerging Pathogens Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
| | - Maria Uribasterra
- Spatial Epidemiology and Ecology Research Laboratory, Department of Geography, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
- Emerging Pathogens Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
| | - Valpa Asher
- Turner Enterprises, Inc., Bozeman, Montana, USA
| | - Wayne M. Getz
- Department of Environmental Sciences, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA
- School of Mathematical Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa
| | - Sadie J. Ryan
- Emerging Pathogens Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
- Quantitative Disease Ecology and Conservation Laboratory, Department of Geography, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
- College of Agriculture, Engineering, and Science, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa
| | | | - Jason K. Blackburn
- Spatial Epidemiology and Ecology Research Laboratory, Department of Geography, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
- Emerging Pathogens Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
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Hugh-Jones M, Blackburn J. The ecology of Bacillus anthracis. Mol Aspects Med 2009; 30:356-67. [PMID: 19720074 DOI: 10.1016/j.mam.2009.08.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 184] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2009] [Accepted: 08/24/2009] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
The global distribution of anthrax is largely determined by soils with high calcium levels and a pH above 6.1, which foster spore survival. It is speculated that the spore exosporium probably plays a key part by restricting dispersal and thereby increasing the probability of a grazing animal acquiring a lethal dose. 'Anthrax Seasons' are characterized by hot-dry weather which stresses animals and reduces their innate resistance to infection allowing low doses of spores to be infective. Necrophagic flies act as case-multipliers and haemophagic flies as space-multipliers; the latter are aided by climatic factors which play a key part in whether epidemics occur. Host death is a function of species sensitivity to the toxins. The major function of scavengers is to open the carcass, spill fluids, and thereby aid bacilli dispersal and initiate sporulation. In the context of landscape ecology viable spore distribution is a function of mean annual temperature, annual precipitation, elevation, mean NDVI, annual NDVI amplitude, soil moisture content, and soil pH.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin Hugh-Jones
- Department of Environmental Science, School of the Coast and Environment, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803-5705, USA.
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Senanayake SN, Baker BC. An outbreak of illness in poultry and humans in 16th century Indonesia. Med J Aust 2007; 187:693-5. [DOI: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.2007.tb01483.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/04/2007] [Accepted: 10/15/2007] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Brett C Baker
- Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT
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