Parasite Spillover from Domestic Sheep to Wild Reindeer—The Role of Salt Licks
Abstract: Attraction sites are important for environmental pathogen transmission and spillover. Yet, their role in wildlife disease dynamics is often poorly substantiated. Herein, we study the role of salt licks as potential attraction sites for the spillover of gastrointestinal parasites from domes...
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Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3056013 https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens12020186 |
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fthsinnlandet:oai:brage.inn.no:11250/3056013 2024-03-03T08:48:24+00:00 Parasite Spillover from Domestic Sheep to Wild Reindeer—The Role of Salt Licks Utaaker, Kjersti Selstad Ytrehus, Bjørnar Davey, Marie Louise Fossøy, Frode Davidson, Rebecca K. Miller, Andrea Robertsen, Per-Anders Strand, Olav Rauset, Geir Rune 2023-01-25 application/pdf https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3056013 https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens12020186 eng eng Miljødirektoratet: 17040018 urn:issn:2076-0817 https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3056013 https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens12020186 cristin:2121743 Navngivelse 4.0 Internasjonal http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.no 12 Pathogens 2 attraction sites Disease transmission Spillover domestic sheep (Ovis aries) Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) Gastrointestinal nematodes Prion Chronic wasting disease Peer reviewed Journal article 2023 fthsinnlandet https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens12020186 2024-02-02T12:42:10Z Abstract: Attraction sites are important for environmental pathogen transmission and spillover. Yet, their role in wildlife disease dynamics is often poorly substantiated. Herein, we study the role of salt licks as potential attraction sites for the spillover of gastrointestinal parasites from domestic sheep to wild reindeer. Eggs from the introduced sheep nematode Nematodirus battus were found in faecal samples of both species, suggestive of spillover. DNA metabarcoding of soil, collected at salt licks, revealed that N. battus, in addition to Teladorsagia circumcincta, were the most frequently occurring parasitic nematodes, with a significantly higher prevalence of nematodal DNA in salt lick soil compared to soil from control sites nearby. The finding of similar DNA haplotypes of N. battus in sheep, reindeer, and salt lick soil supports the hypothesis of spillover to reindeer via salt licks. More detailed investigation of the genetic diversity of N. battus across these hosts is needed to draw firm conclusions. Infection with these sheep nematodes could potentially explain a recently observed decline in the calf recruitment rate of the Knutshø reindeer herd. This study also supports the hypothesized role of artificial salt licks as hot spots for the transmission of environmentally persistent pathogens and illustrates the importance of knowledge about such attraction points in the study of disease in free-roaming animals. publishedVersion Article in Journal/Newspaper Rangifer tarandus Høgskolen i Innlandet: Brage INN Pathogens 12 2 186 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Høgskolen i Innlandet: Brage INN |
op_collection_id |
fthsinnlandet |
language |
English |
topic |
attraction sites Disease transmission Spillover domestic sheep (Ovis aries) Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) Gastrointestinal nematodes Prion Chronic wasting disease |
spellingShingle |
attraction sites Disease transmission Spillover domestic sheep (Ovis aries) Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) Gastrointestinal nematodes Prion Chronic wasting disease Utaaker, Kjersti Selstad Ytrehus, Bjørnar Davey, Marie Louise Fossøy, Frode Davidson, Rebecca K. Miller, Andrea Robertsen, Per-Anders Strand, Olav Rauset, Geir Rune Parasite Spillover from Domestic Sheep to Wild Reindeer—The Role of Salt Licks |
topic_facet |
attraction sites Disease transmission Spillover domestic sheep (Ovis aries) Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) Gastrointestinal nematodes Prion Chronic wasting disease |
description |
Abstract: Attraction sites are important for environmental pathogen transmission and spillover. Yet, their role in wildlife disease dynamics is often poorly substantiated. Herein, we study the role of salt licks as potential attraction sites for the spillover of gastrointestinal parasites from domestic sheep to wild reindeer. Eggs from the introduced sheep nematode Nematodirus battus were found in faecal samples of both species, suggestive of spillover. DNA metabarcoding of soil, collected at salt licks, revealed that N. battus, in addition to Teladorsagia circumcincta, were the most frequently occurring parasitic nematodes, with a significantly higher prevalence of nematodal DNA in salt lick soil compared to soil from control sites nearby. The finding of similar DNA haplotypes of N. battus in sheep, reindeer, and salt lick soil supports the hypothesis of spillover to reindeer via salt licks. More detailed investigation of the genetic diversity of N. battus across these hosts is needed to draw firm conclusions. Infection with these sheep nematodes could potentially explain a recently observed decline in the calf recruitment rate of the Knutshø reindeer herd. This study also supports the hypothesized role of artificial salt licks as hot spots for the transmission of environmentally persistent pathogens and illustrates the importance of knowledge about such attraction points in the study of disease in free-roaming animals. publishedVersion |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Utaaker, Kjersti Selstad Ytrehus, Bjørnar Davey, Marie Louise Fossøy, Frode Davidson, Rebecca K. Miller, Andrea Robertsen, Per-Anders Strand, Olav Rauset, Geir Rune |
author_facet |
Utaaker, Kjersti Selstad Ytrehus, Bjørnar Davey, Marie Louise Fossøy, Frode Davidson, Rebecca K. Miller, Andrea Robertsen, Per-Anders Strand, Olav Rauset, Geir Rune |
author_sort |
Utaaker, Kjersti Selstad |
title |
Parasite Spillover from Domestic Sheep to Wild Reindeer—The Role of Salt Licks |
title_short |
Parasite Spillover from Domestic Sheep to Wild Reindeer—The Role of Salt Licks |
title_full |
Parasite Spillover from Domestic Sheep to Wild Reindeer—The Role of Salt Licks |
title_fullStr |
Parasite Spillover from Domestic Sheep to Wild Reindeer—The Role of Salt Licks |
title_full_unstemmed |
Parasite Spillover from Domestic Sheep to Wild Reindeer—The Role of Salt Licks |
title_sort |
parasite spillover from domestic sheep to wild reindeer—the role of salt licks |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3056013 https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens12020186 |
genre |
Rangifer tarandus |
genre_facet |
Rangifer tarandus |
op_source |
12 Pathogens 2 |
op_relation |
Miljødirektoratet: 17040018 urn:issn:2076-0817 https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3056013 https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens12020186 cristin:2121743 |
op_rights |
Navngivelse 4.0 Internasjonal http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.no |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens12020186 |
container_title |
Pathogens |
container_volume |
12 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
186 |
_version_ |
1792505277360111616 |