Tick infestation on roe deer in relation to geographic and remotely sensed climatic variables in a tick-borne encephalitis endemic area

SUMMARYRoe deer Capreolus capreolus are among the most important feeding hosts for the sheep tick Ixodes ricinus, thus contributing to the occurrence of tick-borne diseases in Europe. Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE), which is transmitted by co-feeding of larvae and nymphs on rodents, requires precise climatic conditions to occur. We used roe deer as sentinels for potential circulation of TBE virus in Northern Italy, by examining the association between tick infestation, occurrence of TBE human cases, geographical and climatic parameters. Tick infestation on roe deer, and particularly frequency of co-feeding, was clearly associated with the geographic location and the autumnal cooling rate. Consistently, TBE occurrence in humans was geographically related to co-feeding tick abundance. The surveillance of tick infestation on roe deer, combined with remotely sensed climatic data, could therefore be used as an inexpensive early risk assessment tool of favourable conditions for TBE emergence and persistence in humans.

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Tick infestation (Acari: Ixodidae) in roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) from northwestern Spain: population dynamics and risk stratification

Experimental and Applied Acarology ◽

10.1007/s10493-010-9403-7 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 53 (4) ◽

pp. 399-409 ◽

Cited By ~ 21

Author(s):

Luís Vázquez ◽

Rosario Panadero ◽

Vicente Dacal ◽

Francisco Javier Pato ◽

Ceferino López ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Population Dynamics ◽

Risk Stratification ◽

Tick Infestation ◽

Roe Deer ◽

Capreolus Capreolus ◽

Northwestern Spain

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Determinants of tick-borne encephalitis virus antibody presence in roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) sera

Medical and Veterinary Entomology ◽

10.1111/j.1365-2915.2011.00961.x ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 26 (1) ◽

pp. 18-25 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

C. KIFFNER ◽

T. VOR ◽

P. HAGEDORN ◽

M. NIEDRIG ◽

F. RÜHE

Keyword(s):

Roe Deer ◽

Capreolus Capreolus ◽

Encephalitis Virus ◽

Virus Antibody ◽

Tick Borne Encephalitis ◽

Tick Borne Encephalitis Virus

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Seasonal migration and home range of roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) in the Italian eastern Alps

Canadian Journal of Zoology ◽

10.1139/z06-210 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 85 (2) ◽

pp. 280-289 ◽

Cited By ~ 27

Author(s):

M. Ramanzin ◽

E. Sturaro ◽

D. Zanon

Keyword(s):

Home Range ◽

Roe Deer ◽

Capreolus Capreolus ◽

High Elevation ◽

Climatic Conditions ◽

Seasonal Migration ◽

Migration Strategy ◽

Mountain Areas ◽

Winter Range ◽

Short Period

Although it has been demonstrated that European roe deer ( Capreolus capreolus (L. 1758)) may migrate seasonally in areas with snow gradients, this behaviour remains scarcely understood. From 1999 to 2002, radio-tracking techniques in an Italian alpine area showed that 40% of the 32 monitored roe deer migrated (12.0 ± 6.2 km, mean ± SD) from the high-elevation summer ranges to the low-elevation winter ranges. Proportions of migratory deer were similar for fawns and adults and for males and females. We documented a mixed migration strategy, with most deer migrating once to the winter range in years of heavy snowfalls, but many deer migrating inconsistently or only for a short period to the winter range in one year with very scarce snowfalls. Seasonal home-range sizes were similar for migratory and stationary deer, except in a winter with very shallow snow when migrators used unusually large home ranges. In all seasons, migrators showed a lower within home range site fidelity than did stationary deer. Our results indicate that seasonal migrations may be a common strategy exhibited by roe deer living in mountain areas to avoid deep snow, and that variability in climatic conditions might be responsible for the development of variable spatial strategies.

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Variation in reproduction of a temperate deer, the southern pudu (Pudu puda)

Animal Production Science ◽

10.1071/an11364 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 52 (8) ◽

pp. 735

Author(s):

Fernando Vidal ◽

Jo Anne M. Smith-Flueck ◽

Werner T. Flueck ◽

Luděk Bartoš

Keyword(s):

Captive Breeding ◽

Roe Deer ◽

Capreolus Capreolus ◽

Extended Period ◽

Early Summer ◽

Climatic Conditions ◽

Breeding Period ◽

Similar Response ◽

Sexual Hormones ◽

In The Wild

Pudu (Pudu puda), occurring in the southern cone of Latin America, has been classified as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), yet little is known about this animal in the wild, with most knowledge on the breeding behaviour coming from captive animals. For this second-smallest deer in the world, delayed implantation has been suggested to explain the two peaks in the annual cycle of male sexual hormones on the basis of the accepted tenet that the breeding period occurs only once a year, between March and June. However, in the present study, birth dates from fawns born at the Los Canelos semi-captive breeding centre in Chile and male courting behaviour revealed the possibility of two rutting periods: autumn and spring. To our knowledge, this is the first time that late-fall births (May through early June for 17% of fawns in the study population) have been recorded for the southern pudu; two of these four births were conceived by females in the wild. From zoo and captive-animal birth records (n = 97), only three fawns were born in the fall. For all births combined (n = 121), 77% occurred in spring. The roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) and Pere David deer (Elaphurus davidianus) have been considered the only two temperate cervids in which sexual activity is initiated by increasing daylength and which breed in early summer. Yet, the present results indicate a similar response from the southern pudu when under a wild or semi-captive environment, with breeding taking place in spring. These results suggest that this species may either have two reproductive periods per year or retains the capacity to be a breeder for a much more extended period of time than documented by earlier studies. Pudu, like other temperate deer, is responsive to photoperiod for timing its breeding period, but may further optimise its production of offspring by also responding to other environmental cues such as seasonal variation in food supply when climatic conditions are favourable.

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Parasitized or non-parasitized, why? A study of factors influencing tick burden in roe deer neonates.

10.1101/2022.01.11.475805 ◽

2022 ◽

Author(s):

Léa Bariod ◽

Sonia Saïd ◽

Clément Calenge ◽

Vincent Badeau ◽

Stéphane Chabot ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Tick Infestation ◽

Environmental Changes ◽

Roe Deer ◽

Abiotic Factors ◽

Capreolus Capreolus ◽

Common Species ◽

Pathogen Transmission ◽

Wild Ungulates ◽

Factors Influencing ◽

Tick Burden

Ixodes ricinus , the most common species of tick in Europe, is known to transmit major pathogens to animals and humans such as Babesia spp. or Borrelia spp.. Its abundance and distribution have been steadily increasing in Europe during recent decades, due to global environmental changes. Indeed, as ticks spend most of their life in the environment, their activity and life cycle are highly dependent on environmental conditions, and therefore on climate or habitat changes. Simultaneously, wild ungulates have expanded their range and increased dramatically in abundance worldwide, in particular roe deer ( Capreolus capreolus ), have allowed tick populations to grow and spread. Currently, tick infestation on newborn wild ungulates is poorly documented. However, newborn ungulates are considered more sensitive to tick bites and pathogen transmission because of their immature immune system. Thus, improving knowledge about the factors influencing tick infestation on newborns is essential to better understand their health risks. This study was conducted at Trois-Fontaines forest, Champagne-Ardenne, France (1992-2018). Based on a long-term monitoring of roe deer fawns, we used a novel Bayesian model of the infestation of fawns to identify which biotic or abiotic factors are likely to modify the level of infestation by ticks of 965 fawns over time. We show that tick burden increased faster during the first days of life of the fawns and became constant when fawns were 5 days old and more, which could be explained by the depletion of questing ticks or the turnover of ticks feeding on fawns. Moreover, the humidity, which favors tick activity, was weakly positively related to the tick burden. Our results demonstrate that tick infestation was highly variable among years, particularly between 2000 and 2009. We hypothesize that this results from a modification of habitat caused by hurricane Lothar.

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Use of aerial thermography to reduce mortality of roe deer fawns before harvest

PeerJ ◽

10.7717/peerj.6923 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 7 ◽

pp. e6923 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Jan Cukor ◽

Jan Bartoška ◽

Jan Rohla ◽

Jan Sova ◽

Antonín Machálek

Keyword(s):

Agricultural Landscape ◽

Roe Deer ◽

Capreolus Capreolus ◽

Field Research ◽

Early Morning ◽

Climatic Conditions ◽

Limiting Factors ◽

Imaging Device ◽

Short Time Span ◽

Short Time

In agricultural landscape, there are thousands of young wild animals killed every year. Their deaths are caused mostly by agricultural fieldworks during spring harvest. Among the affected animals there are also fawns of roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), which react to danger by pressing themselves against the ground in order to be protected from predators. There were various methods tested in the past aimed at decreasing roe deer mortality caused by agriculture machinery with varied levels of success. This contribution presents technology that documents the possibility of searching for fawns with a thermal imaging device carried by an unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). The results are based on field research that estimated the ideal height of flight being ±40 meters above ground. If the climatic conditions are favourable, it is possible to monitor and mark fawn locations using GPS coordinates in an area of about 14 ha in 25 minutes, which is the average flight time of UAV on one battery charge. The thermo-camera is very reliable in finding fawns in early morning hours (4 to 6 a.m.) when there is the highest temperature contrast between the searched object and its surroundings. The main limiting factors are climatic conditions and the short time span in which the thermo-camera can be used. If the basic requirements are met, the rate of successful fawn detection can be even up to 100%. An undisputed advantage of this method is the possibility of involvement of local gamekeepers. Thus the agricultural fieldworks are not interrupted.

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Tick burden on European roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) from Saxony, Germany, and detection of tick-borne encephalitis virus in attached ticks

Parasitology Research ◽

10.1007/s00436-020-06637-z ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 119 (4) ◽

pp. 1387-1392 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Nina Król ◽

Lidia Chitimia-Dobler ◽

Gerhard Dobler ◽

Yauhen Karliuk ◽

Stefan Birka ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Roe Deer ◽

Capreolus Capreolus ◽

Encephalitis Virus ◽

Tick Borne Encephalitis ◽

Tick Borne Encephalitis Virus ◽

Tick Burden

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Roe deer as sentinels for endemicity of tick-borne encephalitis virus

Epidemiology and Infection ◽

10.1017/s0950268800058477 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 115 (2) ◽

pp. 355-365 ◽

Cited By ~ 28

Author(s):

H.-J. Gerth ◽

D. Grimshandl ◽

B. Stage ◽

G. Döller ◽

C. Kunz

Keyword(s):

Roe Deer ◽

Neutralization Test ◽

Haemagglutination Inhibition ◽

Capreolus Capreolus ◽

Encephalitis Virus ◽

Antibody Prevalence ◽

Tick Borne Encephalitis ◽

Natural Foci ◽

Tick Borne Encephalitis Virus ◽

Tbev Infection

SummaryThe suitability of serological surveys of roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) in determining the spread of tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) was tested in a south German area with a low risk of TBEV infection to humans. Sera obtained from 192 hunted roe were screened by an haemagglutination–inhibition test (HAI) and in an ELISA developed in our laboratory. Those found positive were tested in a neutralization test (NT). Fifty (26·0%) sera reacted positive by ELISA and 43 (86·0%) of these were confirmed by HAI or NT. Forty-seven (24·5%) samples were positive by HAI, 44 (93·6%) of which were also positive in NT or ELISA. Only insignificant increase of the antibody prevalence with age (P = 0·17 for HAI antibodies) suggests that most infections occur at an early age in scattered natural foci. The antibody prevalence in females was lower than in males (OR = 0·63; P = 0·02 for HAI antibodies). In determining the distribution of seropositive roe we increased the sample size to 235 sera. No antibodies were detected in 56 (23·8%) sera collected in the eastern third of the county. The areas of high antibody prevalence in roe match those in which humans have been infected. We conclude that serosurveys of roe deer are useful in marking out areas in which humans face the risk of infection, provided that an adequate number of sera, preferably from males, is available.

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