scholarly journals Evolutionary Dynamics and Epidemiology of Endemic and Emerging Coronaviruses in Humans, Domestic Animals, and Wildlife

Viruses ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 1908
Author(s):  
Ariful Islam ◽  
Jinnat Ferdous ◽  
Shariful Islam ◽  
Md. Abu Sayeed ◽  
Shusmita Dutta Choudhury ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Global Economy ◽  
Evolutionary Dynamics ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Wild Animals ◽  
Intermediate Hosts ◽  
Species Barrier ◽  
Susceptible Animal ◽  
Infectious Bronchitis ◽  
Wild Cats ◽  
Future Outbreak

Diverse coronavirus (CoV) strains can infect both humans and animals and produce various diseases. CoVs have caused three epidemics and pandemics in the last two decades, and caused a severe impact on public health and the global economy. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to understand the emergence and evolution of endemic and emerging CoV diversity in humans and animals. For diverse bird species, the Infectious Bronchitis Virus is a significant one, whereas feline enteric and canine coronavirus, recombined to produce feline infectious peritonitis virus, infects wild cats. Bovine and canine CoVs have ancestral relationships, while porcine CoVs, especially SADS-CoV, can cross species barriers. Bats are considered as the natural host of diverse strains of alpha and beta coronaviruses. Though MERS-CoV is significant for both camels and humans, humans are nonetheless affected more severely. MERS-CoV cases have been reported mainly in the Arabic peninsula since 2012. To date, seven CoV strains have infected humans, all descended from animals. The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronaviruses (SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2) are presumed to be originated in Rhinolopoid bats that severely infect humans with spillover to multiple domestic and wild animals. Emerging alpha and delta variants of SARS-CoV-2 were detected in pets and wild animals. Still, the intermediate hosts and all susceptible animal species remain unknown. SARS-CoV-2 might not be the last CoV to cross the species barrier. Hence, we recommend developing a universal CoV vaccine for humans so that any future outbreak can be prevented effectively. Furthermore, a One Health approach coronavirus surveillance should be implemented at human-animal interfaces to detect novel coronaviruses before emerging to humans and to prevent future epidemics and pandemics.

scholarly journals Host range projection of SARS-CoV-2: South Asia perspective

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rasel Ahmed ◽  
Rajnee Hasan ◽  
A.M.A.M Zonaed Siddiki ◽  
Md. Shahidul Islam
Keyword(s):  
South Asia ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Farming System ◽  
Spike Protein ◽  
Intermediate Hosts ◽  
Angiotensin I ◽  
Predominant Species ◽  
Angiotensin I Converting Enzyme ◽  
Animal Hosts ◽  
Future Outbreak

AbstractSevere Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causing agent of Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19), is likely to be originated from bat and transmitted through intermediate hosts. However, the immediate source species of SARS-CoV-2 has not yet been confirmed. Here, we used diversity analysis of the angiotensin I converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) that serves as cellular receptor for SARS-CoV-2 and transmembrane protease serine 2 (TMPRSS2), which has been proved to be utilized by SARS-CoV-2 for spike protein priming. We also simulated the structure of receptor binding domain of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein (SARS-CoV-2 S RBD) with the ACE2s to investigate their binding affinity to determine the potential intermediate animal hosts that could spread the SARS-CoV-2 virus to humans in South Asia. We identified cow, buffalo, goat and sheep, which are predominant species in the household farming system in South Asia that can potentially be infected by SARS-CoV-2. All the bird species studied along with rat and mouse were considered less potential to interact with SARS-CoV-2. The interaction interfaces of SARS-CoV-2 S RBD and ACE2 protein complex suggests pangolin as a potential intermediate host in SARS-CoV-2. Our results provide a valuable resource for the identification of potential hosts for SARS-CoV-2 in South Asia and henceforth reduce the opportunity for a future outbreak of COVID-19.

scholarly journals Diversity and host assemblage of avian haemosporidians in different terrestrial ecoregions of Peru

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luz Garcia-Longoria ◽  
Jaime Muriel ◽  
Sergio Magallanes ◽  
Zaira Hellen Villa-Galarce ◽  
Leonila Ricopa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Amazon Basin ◽  
Evolutionary Dynamics ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Host Community ◽  
Bird Diversity ◽  
New Host ◽  
Parasite Richness ◽  
Haemosporidian Parasites ◽  
Avian Haemosporidians ◽  
Host Parasite

Abstract Characterizing the diversity and structure of host-parasite communities is crucial to understanding their eco-evolutionary dynamics. Malaria and related haemosporidian parasites are responsible for fitness loss and mortality in bird species worldwide. However, despite exhibiting the greatest ornithological biodiversity, avian haemosporidians from Neotropical regions are quite unexplored. Here, we analyse the genetic diversity of bird haemosporidian parasites (Plasmodium and Haemoproteus) in 1,336 individuals belonging to 206 bird species to explore for differences in diversity of parasite lineages and bird species across five well-differentiated Peruvian ecoregions. We detected 70 different haemosporidian lineages infecting 74 bird species. We showed that 25 out of the 70 haplotypes had not been previously recorded. Moreover, we also identified 81 new host – parasite interactions representing new host records for these haemosporidian parasites. Our outcomes revealed that the effective diversity (as well as the richness, abundance, and Shannon-Weaver index) for both birds and parasite lineages was higher in Amazon basin ecoregions. Furthermore, we also showed that ecoregions with greater diversity of bird species also had high parasite richness, hence suggesting that host community is crucial in explaining parasite richness. Generalist parasites were found in ecoregions with lower bird diversity, implying that the abundance and richness of hosts may shape the exploitation strategy followed by haemosporidian parasites. These outcomes reveal that Neotropical region is a major reservoir of unidentified haemosporidian lineages. Further studies analysing host distribution and specificity of these parasites in the tropics will provide important knowledge about phylogenetic relationships, phylogeography, and patterns of evolution and distribution of haemosporidian parasites.

scholarly journals Domestication of wild animals may provide a springboard for rapid variation of coronavirus

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 252-254
Author(s):  
Lei Gao
Keyword(s):  
Intermediate Host ◽  
Wild Animals ◽  
Intermediate Hosts ◽  
Natural Conditions ◽  
Rapid Variation ◽  
Cross Breeding ◽  
Important Direction ◽  
Animal Hosts

Abstract Coronaviruses have spread widely among humans and other animals, but not all coronaviruses carried by specific animals can directly infect other kinds of animals. Viruses from most animal hosts need an intermediate host before they can spread widely among humans. Under natural conditions, coronaviruses do not rapidly change from infecting wild animals as intermediate hosts and to spreading widely among humans. The intermediate host might be the animals captured or bred for the purpose of cross-breeding with domesticated species for improvement of the breed. These animals differ from wild animals at the environmental and genetic levels. It is an important direction to study the semi-wild animals domesticated by humans in search for intermediate hosts of viruses widely spread among humans.

scholarly journals Sick of Eating: eco-evo-immuno dynamics of predators and their trophically acquired parasites

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel R. Fleischer ◽  
Daniel I. Bolnick ◽  
Sebastian J. Schreiber
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Genetics ◽  
Negative Correlation ◽  
Evolutionary Dynamics ◽  
Distinct Species ◽  
Behavioral Changes ◽  
Alternative Prey ◽  
Intermediate Hosts ◽  
Temperate Lakes ◽  
Schistocephalus Solidus

AbstractWhen predators consume prey, they risk becoming infected with their prey’s parasites, which can then establish the predator as a secondary host. For example, stickleback in northern temperate lakes consume benthic or limnetic prey, which are intermediate hosts for distinct species of parasites (e.g. Eustrongylides nematodes in benthic oligocheates and Schistocephalus solidus copepods in limnetic copepods). These worms then establish the stickleback as a secondary host and can cause behavioral changes linked to increased predation by birds. In this study, we use a quantitative genetics framework to consider the simultaneous eco-evolutionary dynamics of predator ecomorphology and predator immunity when alternative prey may confer different parasite exposures. When evolutionary tradeoffs are sufficiently weak, predator ecomorphology and immunity are correclated among populations, potentially generating a negative correlation between parasite intake and infection.

Wild Beasts in the City

2018 ◽  
pp. 105-119
Author(s):  
Harini Nagendra
Keyword(s):  
Animal Behaviour ◽  
The Other ◽  
Ecological Knowledge ◽  
Wild Animals ◽  
Urban Conservation ◽  
Wild Cats ◽  
The City

Early settlers, pastoralists and hunters, demonstrated an extensive ecological knowledge of the local landscape as of animal behaviour. India rulers used hunts and captive wild animals in the court to underline their bravery, military prowess and valour. The local fascination with shikar (hunting) rubbed off onto British elite, who participated in gruesome farces of urban ‘hunts’, against large wild cats imported in cages from the forests surrounding Bengaluru. Uncaged wildlife were perceived as vermin, leading to an intensive period of targeted kills in the 19th century. These histories influence our framing of the wild beast as the ‘other’: a being to be valorized in battle, conquered in a hunt, trapped in a cage, butchered for trophies, and exoticized in print, but not capable of co-existing with humans. Solutions are unclear, and would be simplistic to propose. But the need to foster a new ethic of urban conservation appears clear.

scholarly journals Molecular identification of Toxoplasma gondii in roadkill wild animals in Yucatan, Mexico

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Antonio Torres-Castro ◽  
Rodrigo Adán Medina-Pinto ◽  
Henry René Noh-Pech ◽  
Fernando I. Puerto ◽  
Roger Iván Rodríguez-Vivas
Keyword(s):  
Toxoplasma Gondii ◽  
Animal Health ◽  
Negative Control ◽  
Molecular Evidence ◽  
Wild Animals ◽  
Intermediate Hosts ◽  
Nested Polymerase Chain Reaction ◽  
Muscle Sample ◽  
Wild Mammals ◽  
Lung Sample

Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular protozoan parasite, recognized as the etiologic agent of toxoplasmosis, a zoonotic endemic disease in several countries, including Mexico. In the Yucatan State of Mexico, Toxoplasma infection has a high impact in both human and domestic animal health. Wild animals can also host zoonotic pathogens such as Toxoplasma gondii. The presence of Toxoplasma gondii DNA in roadkill wild animals in Yucatan was detected using a nested Polymerase Chain Reaction. Toxoplasma gondii DNA was identified in several organs retrieved from a Yucatan squirrel (Sciurus yucatanensis), a coatimundi (Nasua narica), and a greater grison (Galictis vittata). The amplified fragments of Toxoplasma gondii DNA were purified, sequenced, and certified by BLAST analysis. Our results confirm that Toxoplasma gondii can infect wild mammals from Yucatan, which could act as intermediate hosts and contribute to the transmission of the disease to humans and domestic animals, as well as other wild animal species. We present the first molecular evidence of Toxoplasma gondii in a squirrel and a coatimundi from Yucatan, and quite possibly in a greater grison at a global level.Figure 1. Agarose gel presenting PCR amplicons (560 bp) positive to Toxoplasma gondii. 1) C+: positive control; A: Yucatan squirrel liver sample; B: great grison femoral muscle sample; C: coatimundi kidney sample; C-: negative control. 2) A: Yucatan squirrel brain sample; B: great grison lung sample; C-: negative control.

scholarly journals Unhatched eggs represent the invisible fraction in two wild bird populations

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 20190763 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicola Hemmings ◽  
Simon Evans
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Wild Bird ◽  
Evolutionary Dynamics ◽  
Population Studies ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Fertilization Failure ◽  
Bird Populations ◽  
Life History Data ◽  
Evolutionary Inference ◽  
The Invisible

Prenatal mortality is typically overlooked in population studies, which biases evolutionary inference by confounding selection and inheritance. Birds represent an opportunity to include this ‘invisible fraction’ if each egg contains a zygote, but whether hatching failure is caused by fertilization failure versus prenatal mortality is largely unknown. We quantified fertilization failure rates in two bird species that are popular systems for studying evolutionary dynamics and found that overwhelming majorities (99.9%) of laid eggs were fertilized. These systems thus present opportunities to eliminate the invisible fraction from life-history data.

scholarly journals Carotenoid-based colour of acanthocephalan cystacanths plays no role in host manipulation

2008 ◽  
Vol 276 (1654) ◽  
pp. 169-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolas Kaldonski ◽  
Marie-Jeanne Perrot-Minnot ◽  
Raphaël Dodet ◽  
Guillaume Martinaud ◽  
Frank Cézilly
Keyword(s):  
Bird Species ◽  
Intermediate Hosts ◽  
Selective Predation ◽  
Trophic Transmission ◽  
Pomphorhynchus Laevis ◽  
Fish Predators ◽  
Yellow Orange ◽  
Behavioural Alteration ◽  
Orange Spot

Manipulation by parasites is a catchy concept that has been applied to a large range of phenotypic alterations brought about by parasites in their hosts. It has, for instance, been suggested that the carotenoid-based colour of acanthocephalan cystacanths is adaptive through increasing the conspicuousness of infected intermediate hosts and, hence, their vulnerability to appropriate final hosts such as fish predators. We revisited the evidence in favour of adaptive coloration of acanthocephalan parasites in relation to increased trophic transmission using the crustacean amphipod Gammarus pulex and two species of acanthocephalans, Pomphorhynchus laevis and Polymorphus minutus . Both species show carotenoid-based colorations, but rely, respectively, on freshwater fish and aquatic bird species as final hosts. In addition, the two parasites differ in the type of behavioural alteration brought to their common intermediate host. Pomphorhynchus laevis reverses negative phototaxis in G. pulex , whereas P. minutus reverses positive geotaxis. In aquaria, trout showed selective predation for P. laevis -infected gammarids, whereas P. minutus -infected ones did not differ from uninfected controls in their vulnerability to predation. We tested for an effect of parasite coloration on increased trophic transmission by painting a yellow–orange spot on the cuticle of uninfected gammarids and by masking the yellow–orange spot of infected individuals with inconspicuous brown paint. To enhance realism, match of colour between painted mimics and true parasite was carefully checked using a spectrometer. We found no evidence for a role of parasite coloration in the increased vulnerability of gammarids to predation by trout. Painted mimics did not differ from control uninfected gammarids in their vulnerability to predation by trout. In addition, covering the place through which the parasite was visible did not reduce the vulnerability of infected gammarids to predation by trout. We discuss alternative evolutionary explanations for the origin and maintenance of carotenoid-based colorations in acanthocephalan parasites.

scholarly journals Urinary capillariosis in dogs

2020 ◽  
pp. 3-3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tamara Ilic ◽  
Milan Rogosic ◽  
Bojan Gajic ◽  
Jelena Aleksic
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Parasitic Nematode ◽  
Clinical Signs ◽  
Disease Prevalence ◽  
Wild Animals ◽  
Intermediate Hosts ◽  
Treatment And Prevention ◽  
The Family ◽  
Domestic Carnivores ◽  
Possible Cause

Background. Urinary capillariosis in dogs is caused by Capillaria plica (syn. Pearsonema plica), a ubiquitous parasitic nematode resembling a string which belongs to the family Capillariidae. It parasitizes the feline, canine and musteline urinary bladder, and has been found in ureters and renal pelvises as well. C. plica has an indirect life cycle, with earthworms (Lumbricina) as intermediate hosts and domestic and wild animals (dog, cat, fox and wolf) as primary hosts. Infection of primary hosts occurs via ingestion of earthworms that contain infective first stadium (L1) larvae. An alternative path of infection for primary hosts is assumed to be ingestion of soil contaminated by infectious larvae derived from decomposed earthworms. Infection is mostly asymptomatic, but the clinical picture presents with pollakiuria, dysuria, haematuria, polydipsia, incontinence and/or fever. Scope and Approach. The aim of this review is to highlight the importance of urinary capillariosis in dogs. Since the health care of wild and domestic carnivores is extremely important, this review provides information about the morphology, biology and epizootiology of the C. plica nematode. Due to the importance of this disease for clinicians and increased disease prevalence during the last decade in many countries, this review presents the latest information on the pathogenesis, clinical signs, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of this infection. Key Findings and Conclusions. Capillariosis is usually accidentally diagnosed due to the nonspecific clinical signs and there is no treatment of choice. Practitioners should consider latent urinary capillariosis infection as a possible cause while examining for urinary tract diseases.

scholarly journals The Technology of Preventing Ecological and Economic Damage Caused by Echinococcosis

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 2933-2936
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Assessment ◽  
Economic Damage ◽  
Wild Animals ◽  
Susceptible Animal ◽  
Source Of Infection ◽  
Cattle Feeding ◽  
Sources Of Infection

The article presents the data about the mechanism of transmitting echinococcosis from the source of infection to a susceptible animal. It has been found that the main sources of infection are sick dogs, and, more rarely, wild animals. The factors that promote the spread of echinococcosis are home-slaughtering cattle, feeding the viscera of slaughtered animals to dogs, failure to observe the deadlines and the methods of dogs dehelminthization, poor dogs dehelminthization scale, and unordered dog keeping. The article also presents the results of the studies for comparative assessment of various methods of coproovoscopic diagnosing helminthoses in dogs.

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