scholarly journals Red fox viromes in urban and rural landscapes

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah J Campbell ◽  
Wilbur Ashley ◽  
Margarita Gil-Fernandez ◽  
Thomas M Newsome ◽  
Francesca Di Giallonardo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Red Fox ◽  
Disease Risk ◽  
Red Foxes ◽  
Domestic Species ◽  
Rural Landscapes ◽  
European Settlement ◽  
Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease ◽  
Large Populations ◽  
Urban And Rural Areas

Abstract The Red fox (Vulpes vulpes) has established large populations in Australia’s urban and rural areas since its introduction following European settlement. The cryptic and highly adaptable nature of foxes allows them to invade cities and live among humans whilst remaining largely unnoticed. Urban living and access to anthropogenic food resources also influence fox ecology. Urban foxes grow larger, live at higher densities, and are more social than their rural counterparts. These ecological changes in urban red foxes are likely to impact the pathogens that they harbour, and foxes could pose a disease risk to humans and other species that share these urban spaces. To investigate this possibility, we used a meta-transcriptomic approach to characterise the virome of urban and rural foxes across the Greater Sydney region in Australia. Urban and rural foxes differed significantly in virome composition, with rural foxes harbouring a greater abundance of viruses compared to their urban counterparts. We identified ten potentially novel vertebrate-associated viruses in both urban and rural foxes, some of which are related to viruses associated with disease in domestic species and humans. These included members of the Astroviridae, Picobirnaviridae, Hepeviridae, and Picornaviridae as well as rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus-2. This study sheds light on the viruses carried by urban and rural foxes and emphasises the need for greater genomic surveillance of foxes and other invasive species at the human–wildlife interface.

scholarly journals Red fox viromes across an urban-rural gradient

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah J Campbell ◽  
Wilbur Ashley ◽  
Margarita Gil-Fernandez ◽  
Thomas M. Newsome ◽  
Francesca Di Giallonardo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Infectious Diseases ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Red Fox ◽  
Disease Risk ◽  
Close Contact ◽  
Food Resources ◽  
Human Populations ◽  
Red Foxes ◽  
Domestic Species ◽  
Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease

AbstractThe Red fox (Vulpes vulpes) has established large populations in Australia’s urban and rural areas since its introduction following European settlement. Foxes’ cryptic and highly adaptable nature allows them to invade cities and live among humans while remaining largely unnoticed. Urban living and access to anthropogenic food resources also influences fox ecology. Urban foxes grow larger, live at higher densities and are more social than their rural counterparts. These ecological changes in urban red foxes are likely to impact the pathogens that they harbour, and foxes could pose a disease risk to humans and other species that share these urban spaces. To assess this possibility, we used a meta-transcriptomic approach to characterise the viromes of urban and rural foxes across the Greater Sydney region in Australia. Urban and rural foxes differed significantly in virome composition, with rural foxes harbouring a greater abundance of viruses compared to their urban counterparts. In contrast, urban fox viromes comprised a greater diversity of viruses compared to rural foxes. We identified nine potentially novel vertebrate-associated viruses in both urban and rural foxes, some of which are related to viruses associated with disease in domestic species and humans. These included members of the Astroviridae, Picobirnaviridae, Hepeviridae and Picornaviridae as well as rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus-2 (RHDV2). This study sheds light on the viruses carried by urban and rural foxes and emphasises the need for greater genomic surveillance of foxes and other invasive species at the human-wildlife interface.ImportanceUrbanisation of wild environments is increasing as human populations continue to expand. Remnant pockets of natural environments and other green spaces in urban landscapes provide invasive wildlife such as red foxes with refuges within urban areas, where they thrive on the food resources provisioned by humans. Close contact between humans, domestic species and foxes likely increases the risk of novel pathogen emergence. Indeed, the vast majority of emerging infectious diseases in humans originate in wild animals. Here, we explored potential differences in viromes between urban fox invaders and their rural counterparts. Viromes of foxes and their ectoparasites comprise a diversity of viruses including those from the Astroviridae, Picobirnaviridae, Hepeviridae, Caliciviridae and Picornaviridae. Microbial surveillance in foxes and other urban wildlife is vital for monitoring viral emergence and for the prevention of infectious diseases.

scholarly journals Epidemiological Study of Pesticide Poisoning in Domestic Animals and Wildlife in Portugal: 2014–2020

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreia Grilo ◽  
Anabela Moreira ◽  
Belmira Carrapiço ◽  
Adriana Belas ◽  
Berta São Braz
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Domestic Animals ◽  
Wild Animals ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Red Foxes ◽  
Domestic Species ◽  
Pesticides Residues ◽  
Pharmacology And Toxicology ◽  
Layer Chromatography

Nowadays the intentional poisoning of domestic and wild animals is a crime in the European Union (EU), but as in the past the poison is still used in rural areas of a number of European countries to kill animals that were considered harmful for human activities. From January 2014 up until October 2020, the Laboratory of Pharmacology and Toxicology of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine (LFT-FMV) has done the analytical detection of poisoning substances in 503 samples of wildlife and domestic animals and pesticides residues were found in 239 of the samples analyzed. In this retrospective study, toxicology results from domestic species (dog, cat, sheep, cows, and horses), wildlife species (red foxes, birds of prey, lynx, and wild boar), and food baits, are presented. During this period the samples analyzed at the LFT-FMV, were received from all over the country. Analytical detections were performed via solvent extraction followed by thin layer chromatography. Molluscicides (47%, n = 109) and Carbamates (24%, n = 57) were found to be the first category of pesticides involved in intoxications, in both domestic and wild animals, followed by rodenticides (13%, n = 30)—in this group second and third generation, were the most represented; Strychnine is the third (11%, n = 26) even though this pesticide has been banned in Portugal since 1988 and in the European Union since 2006 and finally Organophosphates (5%, n = 11) in the small number. This study allowed to realize that a great number of positive samples involved banned pesticides (i.e., Aldicarb and Strychnine) but, at the same time, many positives cases were due to the exposure to commercially available products (i.e., Methiocarb and Anticoagulant rodenticides). Also, it's possible to identify the areas where domestic species are the most affected (i.e., Setubal and Lisboa) and the areas where the wild animals are the mainly affected species (i.e., Faro, Castelo Branco, and Bragança).

scholarly journals The State of Knowledge on Intestinal Helminths in Free-Roaming Dogs in Southern South America

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ritossa Luciano ◽  
Viozzi Gustavo ◽  
Flores Verónica
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
South America ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Disease Risk ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Zoonotic Diseases ◽  
Helminth Parasites ◽  
Southern South America ◽  
Public Areas ◽  
Urban And Rural Areas

In South America there are more dogs per person than in developed countries. Many owners allow their dogs to roam freely in public areas, which favours the spread of zoonotic diseases. The objective of this work is to describe, through bibliographic analysis, the occurrence, prevalence, species richness, and distribution of intestinal helminth parasites found in dog faeces from urban and rural areas of southern South America (Argentina-Chile-Uruguay). Using three databases, we performed a systematic review of articles published between 2000 and 2020 in indexed journals. A total of 219 articles was evaluated for eligibility, and of these 67 were included in the final analysis; 48 correspond to Argentina, 17 to Chile, and 2 to Uruguay. The total number of parasite taxa recorded was 22, the most frequently occurring species being Toxocara canis, Ancylostoma sp., Trichuris vulpis and Echinococcus sp. Species richness was correlated with sample size and varied between 1 and 10 species. In addition, disease risk is not homogeneously distributed. Due to the high infection levels in dogs, urban and rural dwellers are at risk of infection with zoonotic diseases transmitted by these animals, therefore a One Health approach to public health would be advisable.

Predation of southern brown bandicoots Isoodon obesulus by the European red fox Vulpes vulpes in south-east Victoria.

2003 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 107 ◽  
Author(s):  
TD Coates ◽  
CJ Wright
Keyword(s):  
Biodiversity Conservation ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Vulpes Vulpes ◽  
Red Fox ◽  
Environment Protection ◽  
Conservation Areas ◽  
Red Foxes ◽  
Large Numbers

PREDATION by European red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) has been identified as at least partially responsible for local declines of populations of many small to medium-sized mammals in Australia and is listed as a ‘key threatening process’ under the Victorian Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act, 1988 and the Federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, 1999. Foxes occur in large numbers throughout urban, suburban and rural areas where they opportunistically take carrion, small to medium-sized mammals, birds, insects and fruit (Menkhorst 1995; Marks and Bloomfield 1999). They also kill poultry and larger mammals such as macropod species and sheep (Menkhorst 1995). In many conservation areas, particularly in near-urban locations where fox densities are high, they are thought to pose a serious threat to biodiversity conservation (Menkhorst 1995; Friend et al. 2001; Mahon 2001).

scholarly journals The use of the microagglutination technique to determine the antibody status of healthy New Zealanders to Brucella abortus

1984 ◽  
Vol 92 (3) ◽  
pp. 401-410 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. A. Bettelheim ◽  
W. J. Maskill ◽  
R. V. Metcalfe ◽  
J. L. Pearce
Keyword(s):  
Brucella Abortus ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Human Population ◽  
Blood Donors ◽  
Immune Status ◽  
Bovine Brucellosis ◽  
Eradication Programme ◽  
Large Populations ◽  
Urban And Rural Areas ◽  
Different Parts

SummarySera from healthy blood donors from different parts of New Zealand, collected between 1977 and 1980, were analysed by the microagglutination technique for antibodies against Brucella abortus. Populations from both urban and rural areas were studied. The technique was shown to be capable of handling the 3351 sera studied and thus to be a useful screening test to assess the immune status of large populations. The results demonstrated some of the effects on the human population of the successful bovine brucellosis eradication programme.

Three hundred years of House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) persecution in Germany

2007 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 307-317 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. SEITZ
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
House Sparrow ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Passer Domesticus ◽  
Second World War ◽  
Population Increase ◽  
World War ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
Urban And Rural Areas ◽  
Second World

Modernization of agriculture, economic development and population increase after the end of the Thirty Years' War caused authorities in many parts of Germany to decree the eradication of so-called pest animals, including the House Sparrow. Farmers were given targets, and had to deliver the heads of sparrows in proportion to the size of their farms or pay fines. At the end of the eighteenth century German ornithologists argued against the eradication of the sparrows. During the mid-nineteenth century, C. L. Gloger, the pioneer of bird protection in Germany, emphasized the value of the House Sparrow in controlling insect plagues. Many decrees were abolished because either they had not been obeyed, or had resulted in people protecting sparrows so that they always had enough for their “deliveries”. Surprisingly, various ornithologists, including Ernst Hartert and the most famous German bird conservationist Freiherr Berlepsch, joined in the war against sparrows at the beginning of the twentieth century, because sparrows were regarded as competitors of more useful bird species. After the Second World War, sparrows were poisoned in large numbers. Persecution of sparrows ended in Germany in the 1970s. The long period of persecution had a significant but not long-lasting impact on House Sparrow populations, and therefore cannot be regarded as a factor in the recent decline of this species in urban and rural areas of western and central Europe.

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