Qualitative risk assessment of impact of Toxoplasma gondii on health of beluga whales, Delphinapterus leucas, from the Eastern Beaufort Sea, Northwest Territories
In recent years, the protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii has increasingly been recognized in Arctic fauna, including beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) in the Eastern Beaufort Sea (EBS), Northwest Territories. We qualitatively assessed the risks of T. gondii to the health of EBS beluga because o...
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2018
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:dbda68a29f684a2aaf02f730ab930b75 2023-05-15T14:23:13+02:00 Qualitative risk assessment of impact of Toxoplasma gondii on health of beluga whales, Delphinapterus leucas, from the Eastern Beaufort Sea, Northwest Territories Rajnish Sharma Lisa L. Loseto Sonja K. Ostertag Matilde Tomaselli Christina M. Bredtmann Colleen Crill Cristina Rodríguez-Pinacho Dayna Schultz Dongyun Jung Kshitiz Shrestha Prateek Jindal Emily J. Jenkins 2018-09-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2017-0037 https://doaj.org/article/dbda68a29f684a2aaf02f730ab930b75 EN FR eng fre Canadian Science Publishing https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2017-0037 https://doaj.org/toc/2368-7460 doi:10.1139/as-2017-0037 2368-7460 https://doaj.org/article/dbda68a29f684a2aaf02f730ab930b75 Arctic Science, Pp 321-337 (2018) qualitative risk assessment toxoplasma gondii beluga whales delphinapterus leucas beaufort sea Environmental sciences GE1-350 Environmental engineering TA170-171 article 2018 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2017-0037 2022-12-31T09:58:16Z In recent years, the protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii has increasingly been recognized in Arctic fauna, including beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) in the Eastern Beaufort Sea (EBS), Northwest Territories. We qualitatively assessed the risks of T. gondii to the health of EBS beluga because of their importance in livelihood of Arctic communities as well as their potential role as sentinels. This risk assessment used a standard framework including hazard identification, hazard characterization, exposure assessment, and risk characterization. We conclude that currently, the EBS beluga are at moderate risk of exposure to T. gondii, and low risk of developing disease associated with toxoplasmosis, based on the small amount of data available (only healthy, hunter-harvested animals have been examined). Although there was a high level of uncertainty due to limited published data and the challenges in determining prevalence and significance of disease in wild marine mammal populations, overall the EBS population was currently considered to be at a low risk for population level impacts of toxoplasmosis. Finally, we identify knowledge gaps that can guide future research, provide better evidence for future risk assessments, and ultimately better detect and mitigate changing risks for health of Arctic beluga, as well as the communities that rely on sustainable, healthy populations for harvest. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Arctic Beaufort Sea Beluga Beluga* Delphinapterus leucas Northwest Territories Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Northwest Territories Arctic Science |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English French |
topic |
qualitative risk assessment toxoplasma gondii beluga whales delphinapterus leucas beaufort sea Environmental sciences GE1-350 Environmental engineering TA170-171 |
spellingShingle |
qualitative risk assessment toxoplasma gondii beluga whales delphinapterus leucas beaufort sea Environmental sciences GE1-350 Environmental engineering TA170-171 Rajnish Sharma Lisa L. Loseto Sonja K. Ostertag Matilde Tomaselli Christina M. Bredtmann Colleen Crill Cristina Rodríguez-Pinacho Dayna Schultz Dongyun Jung Kshitiz Shrestha Prateek Jindal Emily J. Jenkins Qualitative risk assessment of impact of Toxoplasma gondii on health of beluga whales, Delphinapterus leucas, from the Eastern Beaufort Sea, Northwest Territories |
topic_facet |
qualitative risk assessment toxoplasma gondii beluga whales delphinapterus leucas beaufort sea Environmental sciences GE1-350 Environmental engineering TA170-171 |
description |
In recent years, the protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii has increasingly been recognized in Arctic fauna, including beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) in the Eastern Beaufort Sea (EBS), Northwest Territories. We qualitatively assessed the risks of T. gondii to the health of EBS beluga because of their importance in livelihood of Arctic communities as well as their potential role as sentinels. This risk assessment used a standard framework including hazard identification, hazard characterization, exposure assessment, and risk characterization. We conclude that currently, the EBS beluga are at moderate risk of exposure to T. gondii, and low risk of developing disease associated with toxoplasmosis, based on the small amount of data available (only healthy, hunter-harvested animals have been examined). Although there was a high level of uncertainty due to limited published data and the challenges in determining prevalence and significance of disease in wild marine mammal populations, overall the EBS population was currently considered to be at a low risk for population level impacts of toxoplasmosis. Finally, we identify knowledge gaps that can guide future research, provide better evidence for future risk assessments, and ultimately better detect and mitigate changing risks for health of Arctic beluga, as well as the communities that rely on sustainable, healthy populations for harvest. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Rajnish Sharma Lisa L. Loseto Sonja K. Ostertag Matilde Tomaselli Christina M. Bredtmann Colleen Crill Cristina Rodríguez-Pinacho Dayna Schultz Dongyun Jung Kshitiz Shrestha Prateek Jindal Emily J. Jenkins |
author_facet |
Rajnish Sharma Lisa L. Loseto Sonja K. Ostertag Matilde Tomaselli Christina M. Bredtmann Colleen Crill Cristina Rodríguez-Pinacho Dayna Schultz Dongyun Jung Kshitiz Shrestha Prateek Jindal Emily J. Jenkins |
author_sort |
Rajnish Sharma |
title |
Qualitative risk assessment of impact of Toxoplasma gondii on health of beluga whales, Delphinapterus leucas, from the Eastern Beaufort Sea, Northwest Territories |
title_short |
Qualitative risk assessment of impact of Toxoplasma gondii on health of beluga whales, Delphinapterus leucas, from the Eastern Beaufort Sea, Northwest Territories |
title_full |
Qualitative risk assessment of impact of Toxoplasma gondii on health of beluga whales, Delphinapterus leucas, from the Eastern Beaufort Sea, Northwest Territories |
title_fullStr |
Qualitative risk assessment of impact of Toxoplasma gondii on health of beluga whales, Delphinapterus leucas, from the Eastern Beaufort Sea, Northwest Territories |
title_full_unstemmed |
Qualitative risk assessment of impact of Toxoplasma gondii on health of beluga whales, Delphinapterus leucas, from the Eastern Beaufort Sea, Northwest Territories |
title_sort |
qualitative risk assessment of impact of toxoplasma gondii on health of beluga whales, delphinapterus leucas, from the eastern beaufort sea, northwest territories |
publisher |
Canadian Science Publishing |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2017-0037 https://doaj.org/article/dbda68a29f684a2aaf02f730ab930b75 |
geographic |
Arctic Northwest Territories |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Northwest Territories |
genre |
Arctic Arctic Beaufort Sea Beluga Beluga* Delphinapterus leucas Northwest Territories |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic Beaufort Sea Beluga Beluga* Delphinapterus leucas Northwest Territories |
op_source |
Arctic Science, Pp 321-337 (2018) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2017-0037 https://doaj.org/toc/2368-7460 doi:10.1139/as-2017-0037 2368-7460 https://doaj.org/article/dbda68a29f684a2aaf02f730ab930b75 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2017-0037 |
container_title |
Arctic Science |
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1766295758690058240 |