scholarly journals Pathological findings in African buffaloes (Syncerus caffer) in South Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel B. Woodburn ◽  
Johan Steyl ◽  
Elizabeth C. Du Plessis ◽  
Rick D. Last ◽  
Bjorn Reininghaus ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Disease Transmission ◽  
Foot And Mouth Disease ◽  
Source Population ◽  
African Buffalo ◽  
Syncerus Caffer ◽  
Valley Fever ◽  
Neonatal Deaths ◽  
Common Causes ◽  
Health And Disease

The African buffalo (Syncerus caffer) is an iconic species of South African megafauna. As the farmed buffalo population expands, the potential impacts on population health and disease transmission warrant investigation. A retrospective study of skin biopsy and necropsy samples from 429 animals was performed to assess the spectrum of conditions seen in buffaloes in South Africa. Determination of the cause of death (or euthanasia) could not be made in 33.1% (136/411) of the necropsy cases submitted due to autolysis or the absence of significant lesions in the samples submitted. Infectious and parasitic diseases accounted for 53.5% (147/275) of adult fatal cases and non-infectious conditions accounted for 34.9% (96/275). Abortions and neonatal deaths made up 11.6% (32/275) of necropsy cases. Rift Valley fever, bovine viral diarrhoea, malignant catarrhal fever, tuberculosis, bacterial pneumonia, anaesthetic deaths, cachexia and hepatotoxic lesions were the most common causes of death. The range of infectious, parasitic and non-infectious diseases to which African buffaloes were susceptible was largely similar to diseases in domestic cattle which supports concerns regarding disease transmission between the two species. The similarity between diseases experienced in both species will assist wildlife veterinarians in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases in captive African buffaloes. The present study likely does not represent accurate disease prevalence data within the source population of buffaloes, and diseases such as anthrax, brucellosis and foot and mouth disease are under-represented in this study. Hepatic ductal plate abnormalities and haemorrhagic septicaemia have not, to our knowledge, been previously reported in African buffaloes.

scholarly journals 57EMBRYO DEVELOPMENT FOLLOWING INTERSPECIES NUCLEAR TRANSFER OF AFRICAN BUFFALO (SYNCERUS CAFFER), BONTEBOK (DAMALISCUS DORCUS DORCUS) AND ELAND (TAUROTRAGUS ORYX) SOMATIC CELLS INTO BOVINE CYTOPLASTS

2004 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 150 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Matshikiza ◽  
P. Bartels ◽  
G. Vajta ◽  
F. Olivier ◽  
T. Spies ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Nuclear Transfer ◽  
Somatic Cells ◽  
Blastocyst Stage ◽  
Critically Endangered ◽  
African Buffalo ◽  
Syncerus Caffer ◽  
Cell Stage ◽  
Wildlife Species ◽  
Interspecies Nuclear Transfer

Wildlife conservation requires traditional as well as innovative conservation strategies in order to preserve gene and species diversity. Interspecies nuclear transfer has the potential to conserve genes from critically endangered wildlife species where few or no oocytes are available from the endangered species, and where representative cell lines have been established for the wildlife population while numbers were still abundant. The purpose of this study was to investigate the developmental ability of embryos reconstructed with transfer of somatic cells from the African buffalo (Syncerus caffer), bontebok (Damaliscus dorcus dorcus) and eland (Taurotragus oryx) to enucleated domestic cattle (Bos taurus) oocytes. Skin tissue from the three wildlife species were collected by surgically removing approx. 1.0×1.0cm ear skin notches from animals immobilized with a combination of etorphine hydrochloride (M99; South Africa) and azaperone (Stressnil, South Africa). The biopsies were placed into physiological saline and transported to the laboratory at 4°C within 2h, cleaned with chlorohexidine gluconate and sliced finely in Minimal Essential Medium supplemented with 10% fetal calf serum. The resultant tissue explants were treated as previously described (Baumgarten and Harley 1995 Comp. Biochem. Physiol. 110B, 37–46) and actively growing fibroblast cultures made available for the nuclear transfer process. Nuclear transfer was performed using the HMC technique (Vajta et al., 2003 Biol. Reprod. 68, 571–578) using slaughterhouse-derived bovine oocytes. Culture was performed in SOFaaci (Vajta et al., 2003 Biol. Reprod. 68, 571–578) medium supplemented with 5% cattle serum using WOWs (Vajta et al., Mol. Reprod. Dev. 50, 185–191). Two identical replicates were made with somatic cells of each species. After successful reconstruction, 57, 42 and 48 nuclear transferred and activated buffalo, bontebok and eland embryos were cultured, respectively. All except for 2 buffalo embryos cleaved; 22 (39%) developed to or over the 8-cell stage, and 2 (3.5%) of them to the blastocyst stage. All but 3 bontebok embryos cleaved, 17 (40%) developed to or over the 8-cell stage, but none of them reached the compacted morula or blastocyst stage. Sixteen (33%) of the eland embryos developed to or over the 8-cell stage with one (2%) reaching the blastocyst stage. In conclusion, buffalo, bontebok and eland embryos developed from reconstruction using their respective somatic cells combined with bovine cytoplasts, however, in vitro developmental ability to the blastocyst stage was limited. Additional basic research that establishes the regulative mechanisms involved with early preimplantation development together with optimising nuclear transfer techniques may have the potential to one day play a role in the conservation of critically endangered wildlife species.

scholarly journals Coccidian oocyst and nematode egg counts of free-ranging African buffalo (Syncerus caffer) in the Kruger National Park, South Africa : research communication

2000 ◽  
Vol 71 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
B.L. Penzhorn
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
National Park ◽  
Kruger National Park ◽  
African Buffalo ◽  
Syncerus Caffer ◽  
Research Communication ◽  
Nematode Eggs ◽  
Coccidian Oocyst ◽  
Free Ranging

Faecal specimens collected in the Kruger National Park from 103 African buffaloes (Syncerus caffer) up to 1 year old and 283 buffaloes older than 1 year were examined for the presence of coccidian oocysts and nematode eggs. Most specimens from animals older than 1 year had negative coccidian oocyst counts. Positive specimens from younger animals had significantly higher coccidian oocyst counts than those from older animals. No such difference was found for nematode egg counts.

Natural transmission of foot-and-mouth disease virus from African buffalo (Syncerus caffer) to cattle in a wildlife area of Zimbabwe

1994 ◽  
Vol 134 (10) ◽  
pp. 230-232 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Dawe ◽  
F. Flanagan ◽  
R. Madekurozwa ◽  
K. Sorensen ◽  
E. Anderson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Disease Virus ◽  
Foot And Mouth Disease ◽  
Mouth Disease ◽  
African Buffalo ◽  
Syncerus Caffer ◽  
Mouth Disease Virus ◽  
Foot And Mouth

scholarly journals Viral dynamics and immune responses to foot-and-mouth disease virus in African buffalo (Syncerus caffer).

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva Perez-Martin ◽  
Brianna Beechler ◽  
Katherine Scott ◽  
Lin-Mari de Klerk-Lorist ◽  
Fuquan Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Immune Responses ◽  
Acute Phase ◽  
Post Infection ◽  
Foot And Mouth Disease ◽  
Mouth Disease ◽  
African Buffalo ◽  
Syncerus Caffer ◽  
Viral Loads ◽  
Fmd Virus ◽  
Foot And Mouth

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is one of the most important livestock diseases restricting international trade. While it is clear that African buffalo (Syncerus caffer) act as the main wildlife reservoir, viral and immune response dynamics during FMD virus acute infection have not been described before in this species. We used experimental needle inoculation and contact infections with three Southern African Territories serotypes to assess clinical, virological and immunological dynamics for thirty days post infection. Clinical FMD in the needle inoculated buffaloes was mild and characterised by pyrexia. Despite the absence of generalised vesicles, all contact animals were readily infected with their respective serotypes within the first 2-9 days after being mixed with needle challenged buffaloes. Irrespective of the route of infection or serotype there were positive associations between the viral loads in blood and the induction of host innate pro-inflammatory cytokines and acute phase proteins. Viral loads in blood and tonsils were tightly correlated during the acute phase of the infection, however, viraemia significantly declined after a peak at 4 days post infection (dpi), which correlated with the presence of detectable neutralising antibodies. In contrast, infectious virus was isolated in the tonsils until the last sampling point (30 dpi) in most animals. The pattern of virus detection in serum and tonsil swabs was similar for all three serotypes in the direct challenged and contact challenged animals. We have demonstrated for the first time, that African buffalo are indeed systemically affected by FMD virus and clinical FMD in buffalo is characterized by a transient pyrexia. Despite the lack of FMD lesions, infection of African buffalo was characterised by high viral loads in blood and oropharynx, rapid and strong host innate and adaptive immune responses and high transmissibility.

scholarly journals Relationship between burden of infection in ungulate populations and wildlife/livestock interfaces

2013 ◽  
Vol 141 (7) ◽  
pp. 1522-1535 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. CARON ◽  
E. MIGUEL ◽  
C. GOMO ◽  
P. MAKAYA ◽  
D. M. PFUKENYI ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Bos Taurus ◽  
Bos Indicus ◽  
Foot And Mouth Disease ◽  
Epidemiological Studies ◽  
Pathogen Transmission ◽  
African Buffalo ◽  
Valley Fever ◽  
Animal Populations ◽  
Increased Risk

SUMMARYIn southern African transfrontier conservation areas (TFCAs), people, livestock and wildlife share space and resources in semi-arid landscapes. One consequence of the coexistence of wild and domestic herbivores is the risk of pathogen transmission. This risk threatens local livelihoods relying on animal production, public health in the case of zoonoses, national economies in the context of transboundary animal diseases, and the success of integrated conservation and development initiatives. The level of interaction between sympatric wild and domestic hosts, defining different wildlife/livestock interfaces, characterizes opportunities of pathogen transmission between host populations. Exploring the relationship between infection burden and different types of wildlife/domestic interfaces is therefore necessary to manage the sanitary risk in animal populations through control options adapted to these multi-host systems. Here, we assessed the infection burdens of sympatric domestic cattle (Bos taurus/Bos indicus) and African buffalo (Syncerus caffer) at an unfenced interface and compared the infection burdens of cattle populations at different wildlife/livestock interfaces in the Great Limpopo TFCA. Patterns of infection in ungulate populations varied between wild and domestic hosts and between cattle populations at different wildlife/livestock interfaces. Foot-and-mouth disease, Rift Valley fever and theileriosis infections were detected in buffalo and cattle at unfenced interfaces; bovine tuberculosis was only present in buffalo; and brucellosis and lumpy skin disease only in cattle. At unfenced interfaces, cattle populations presented significantly higher Theileria parva and brucellosis prevalence. We hypothesize that cattle populations at wildlife/livestock interfaces face an increased risk of infection compared to those isolated from wildlife, and that the type of interface could influence the diversity and quantity of pathogens shared. Additional host behavioural and molecular epidemiological studies need to be conducted to support this hypothesis. If it is confirmed, the management of wildlife/livestock interfaces will need to be considered through the prism of livestock and public health.

scholarly journals Characterisation of recent foot-and-mouth disease viruses from African buffalo (Syncerus caffer) and cattle in Kenya is consistent with independent virus populations

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabenzia Wekesa ◽  
Abraham Sangula ◽  
Graham J Belsham ◽  
Kirsten Tjornehoj ◽  
Vincent B Muwanika ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Foot And Mouth Disease ◽  
Mouth Disease ◽  
African Buffalo ◽  
Syncerus Caffer ◽  
Foot And Mouth
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