Tularemia above the Treeline: Climate and Rodent Abundance Influences Exposure of a Sentinel Species, the Arctic Fox (Vulpes lagopus), to Francisella tularensis
Tularemia is a zoonotic disease found throughout most of the northern hemisphere that may experience range expansion with warming temperatures. Rodents and lagomorphs are reservoirs for the disease, and outbreaks of tularemia often follow peaks in their abundance. As small mammals dominate the diet...
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Online Access: | http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9861794/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36678376 https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens12010028 |
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ftpubmed:oai:pubmedcentral.nih.gov:9861794 2023-05-15T14:31:07+02:00 Tularemia above the Treeline: Climate and Rodent Abundance Influences Exposure of a Sentinel Species, the Arctic Fox (Vulpes lagopus), to Francisella tularensis Buhler, Kayla Bouchard, Émilie Elmore, Stacey Samelius, Gustaf Jackson, Jessica Tomaselli, Matilde Fenton, Heather Alisauskas, Ray Jenkins, Emily 2022-12-24 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9861794/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36678376 https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens12010028 en eng MDPI http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9861794/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36678376 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/pathogens12010028 © 2022 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). CC-BY Pathogens Article Text 2022 ftpubmed https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens12010028 2023-01-29T01:46:47Z Tularemia is a zoonotic disease found throughout most of the northern hemisphere that may experience range expansion with warming temperatures. Rodents and lagomorphs are reservoirs for the disease, and outbreaks of tularemia often follow peaks in their abundance. As small mammals dominate the diet of arctic foxes (Vulpes lagopus), we determined whether they may serve as sentinels by identifying antibodies in live-captured and harvested foxes from northern Canada. Overall seroprevalence was 2% (CI95 1–2%) in 176 foxes harvested in 2018–2019 compared to 17% (CI95 12–22%) of 230 foxes captured live in 2011–2021. Prevalence was at an all-time high in 2018, following a peak in vole abundance in 2017. Antibodies were identified in fox pups born in 2018 and 2019, suggesting that F. tularensis was actively transmitted during the summers. High precipitation during the summer, increased snow cover and colder temperatures in May, and a higher abundance of voles were all associated with increased seroprevalence in live-captured foxes. Thus, exposure to F. tularensis is largely mediated through climate and rodent populations in the Canadian Arctic, and arctic foxes are useful sentinels for F. tularensis in northern ecosystems. Further studies should investigate whether infection impacts arctic fox survival and reproductive success in the circumpolar North. Text Arctic Fox Arctic Vulpes lagopus PubMed Central (PMC) Arctic Canada Pathogens 12 1 28 |
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Article Buhler, Kayla Bouchard, Émilie Elmore, Stacey Samelius, Gustaf Jackson, Jessica Tomaselli, Matilde Fenton, Heather Alisauskas, Ray Jenkins, Emily Tularemia above the Treeline: Climate and Rodent Abundance Influences Exposure of a Sentinel Species, the Arctic Fox (Vulpes lagopus), to Francisella tularensis |
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Article |
description |
Tularemia is a zoonotic disease found throughout most of the northern hemisphere that may experience range expansion with warming temperatures. Rodents and lagomorphs are reservoirs for the disease, and outbreaks of tularemia often follow peaks in their abundance. As small mammals dominate the diet of arctic foxes (Vulpes lagopus), we determined whether they may serve as sentinels by identifying antibodies in live-captured and harvested foxes from northern Canada. Overall seroprevalence was 2% (CI95 1–2%) in 176 foxes harvested in 2018–2019 compared to 17% (CI95 12–22%) of 230 foxes captured live in 2011–2021. Prevalence was at an all-time high in 2018, following a peak in vole abundance in 2017. Antibodies were identified in fox pups born in 2018 and 2019, suggesting that F. tularensis was actively transmitted during the summers. High precipitation during the summer, increased snow cover and colder temperatures in May, and a higher abundance of voles were all associated with increased seroprevalence in live-captured foxes. Thus, exposure to F. tularensis is largely mediated through climate and rodent populations in the Canadian Arctic, and arctic foxes are useful sentinels for F. tularensis in northern ecosystems. Further studies should investigate whether infection impacts arctic fox survival and reproductive success in the circumpolar North. |
format |
Text |
author |
Buhler, Kayla Bouchard, Émilie Elmore, Stacey Samelius, Gustaf Jackson, Jessica Tomaselli, Matilde Fenton, Heather Alisauskas, Ray Jenkins, Emily |
author_facet |
Buhler, Kayla Bouchard, Émilie Elmore, Stacey Samelius, Gustaf Jackson, Jessica Tomaselli, Matilde Fenton, Heather Alisauskas, Ray Jenkins, Emily |
author_sort |
Buhler, Kayla |
title |
Tularemia above the Treeline: Climate and Rodent Abundance Influences Exposure of a Sentinel Species, the Arctic Fox (Vulpes lagopus), to Francisella tularensis |
title_short |
Tularemia above the Treeline: Climate and Rodent Abundance Influences Exposure of a Sentinel Species, the Arctic Fox (Vulpes lagopus), to Francisella tularensis |
title_full |
Tularemia above the Treeline: Climate and Rodent Abundance Influences Exposure of a Sentinel Species, the Arctic Fox (Vulpes lagopus), to Francisella tularensis |
title_fullStr |
Tularemia above the Treeline: Climate and Rodent Abundance Influences Exposure of a Sentinel Species, the Arctic Fox (Vulpes lagopus), to Francisella tularensis |
title_full_unstemmed |
Tularemia above the Treeline: Climate and Rodent Abundance Influences Exposure of a Sentinel Species, the Arctic Fox (Vulpes lagopus), to Francisella tularensis |
title_sort |
tularemia above the treeline: climate and rodent abundance influences exposure of a sentinel species, the arctic fox (vulpes lagopus), to francisella tularensis |
publisher |
MDPI |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9861794/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36678376 https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens12010028 |
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Arctic Canada |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Canada |
genre |
Arctic Fox Arctic Vulpes lagopus |
genre_facet |
Arctic Fox Arctic Vulpes lagopus |
op_source |
Pathogens |
op_relation |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9861794/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36678376 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/pathogens12010028 |
op_rights |
© 2022 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
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CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens12010028 |
container_title |
Pathogens |
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12 |
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1 |
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28 |
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1766304837575639040 |