FIV and FeLV in native and stray felines

Mora, M., Napolitano, C., Ortega, R., Poulin, E., & Pizarro-Lucero, J. (2014). Feline immunodeficiency virus and feline leukemia virus infection in free-ranging guignas (Leopardus guigna) and sympatric domestic cats in human perturbed landscapes on Chiloé island, Chile. Journal of Wildlife Diseases.

Feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) and feline leukemia virus (FeLV) are two of the most common viruses affecting domestic cats (Felis catus). During the last two decades, reports show that both viruses also infect or affect other species of the family Felidae. Human landscape perturbation is one of the main causes of emerging diseases in wild animals, facilitating contact and transmission of pathogens between domestic and wild animals. We investigated FIV and FeLV infection in free-ranging guignas (Leopardus guigna) and sympatric domestic cats in human perturbed landscapes on Chiloé Island, Chile. Samples from 78 domestic cats and 15 guignas were collected from 2008 to 2010 and analyzed by PCR amplification and sequencing. Two guignas and two domestic cats were positive for FIV; three guignas and 26 domestic cats were positive for FeLV. The high percentage of nucleotide identity of FIV and FeLV sequences from both species suggests possible interspecies transmission of viruses, facilitated by increased contact probability through human invasion into natural habitats, fragmentation of guigna habitat, and poultry attacks by guignas. This study enhances our knowledge on the transmission of pathogens from domestic to wild animals in the global scenario of human landscape perturbation and emerging diseases.

Factors affecting the presence of dogs in streets

Ibarra, L., F. Espínola, M. Echeverría. 2006. Factors related to the presence of dogsin the streets of Santiago City, Chile. Avances en Ciencias Veterinarias, 21: 21-26

In roles to know which are the factors related to the dogs in the streets and as a contribution to designing of sanitary measures for canine population surveillance and controlling, a research was carried out in 34 districts from the Metropolitan Region that conform Santiago city. The sampling unit was the street block and the specific information was obtained through direct observation of 864 city blocks from Santiago, by giving a minimum of 25 city blocks by district, randomly chosen. The street canine population characteristics, the urban structure an the habitat were registered to investigate the relationship among them.

The results show that the amount and types of dogs observed in the streets of Santiago are related to the existence of “shelter like” places and water and food sources in the urban structure of Santiago. The presence of dogs is also related to the garbage location in the street design, because the amount of dogs is significantly smaller if there are storing facilities or baskets in height that prevent the animal access to the garbage.

Domestic mammals transmit parasites to native mammals better than feral mammals

Landaeta-Aqueveque, C., Henríquez, A., & Cattan, P. E. (2014). Introduced species: domestic mammals are more significant transmitters of parasites to native mammals than are feral mammals. International Journal for Parasitology.

The study of parasitism related to biological invasion has focused on attributes and impacts of parasites as invaders and the impact of introduced hosts on endemic parasitism. Thus, there is currently no study of the attributes of hosts which influence the invasiveness of parasites. We aimed to determine whether the degree of domestication of introduced mammalian species – feral introduced mammals, livestock or pets, hereafter ‘D’ – is important in the spillover of introduced parasites. The literature on introduced parasites of mammals in Chile was reviewed. We designed an index for estimating the relevance of the introduced host species to parasite spillover and determined whether the D of introduced mammals predicted this index. A total of 223 introduced parasite species were found. Our results indicate that domestic mammals have a higher number of introduced parasites and spillover parasites, and the index indicates that these mammals, particularly pets, are more relevant introducers than introduced feral mammals. Further analyses indicated that the higher impact is due to higher parasite richness, a longer time since introduction and wider dispersal, as well as how these mammals are maintained. The greater relevance of domestic mammals is important given that they are basically the same species distributed worldwide and can become the main transmitters of parasites to native mammals elsewhere. This finding also underlines the feasibility of management in order to reduce the transmission of parasites to native fauna through anti-parasitic treatment of domestic mammals, animal-ownership education and the prevention of importing new parasite species.

Dogs, one of the biggest threats to pudu

Silva-Rodríguez, E. A., Verdugo, C., Aleuy, O. A., Sanderson, J. G., Ortega-Solís, G. R., Osorio-Zúñiga, F., & González-Acuña, D. (2010). Evaluating mortality sources for the Vulnerable pudu Pudu puda in Chile: implications for the conservation of a threatened deer. Oryx, 44(01), 97-103.

We assessed the importance of potential sources of mortality for the Vulnerable southern pudu Pudu puda in southern Chile using the clinical records of wildlife rehabilitation centres, necropsies of animals found in the field and a review of the diet of potential predators. To assess whether the identified mortality sources operate in nominally protected areas, we conducted a camera-trap survey in two areas to determine the presence of pudus and their potential predators. Predation by domestic dogs Canis lupus familiaris and car collisions were the commonest causes of pudu admissions to rehabilitation centres (35 of 44) and of deaths of animals encountered opportunistically in the field (seven of 14). Field data suggest that poaching could also be an important threat to pudus. Pudus were detected in both areas surveyed, accounting for 15.6% of mammal detections. Dogs accounted for 47.8% of all detections of potential predator species, followed by pumas Puma concolor (17.4%), guignas Leopardus guigna (17.4%) and chilla foxes Lycalopex griseus (17.4%). The literature survey implicated only pumas as important pudu predators among native carnivores. Our data suggest that, aside from forest loss, dogs, road kills and probably poaching are important concerns for pudu conservation. Our frequent detections of free-ranging dogs associated with roads within nominally protected areas suggest that long-term efforts to conserve pudu will require not only the protection of remnant native forest but also substantive environmental education to modify dog management near protected areas.

Urban dogs as a source of virus for wild carnivores

Acosta-Jamett, G., Cleaveland, S., Cunningham, A. A., & Bronsvoort, B. M. D. (2010). Demography of domestic dogs in rural and urban areas of the Coquimbo region of Chile and implications for disease transmission. Preventive veterinary medicine, 94(3), 272-281.

A cross-sectional household questionnaire survey was conducted along two transects (80 and 45 km long) from Coquimbo and Ovalle cities to the Fray Jorge National Park (FJNP) in the Coquimbo region of Chile in 2005–2007 to investigate the demography of dogs in the context of a study of canine infectious diseases. Data were collected on the number of dogs per household, fecundity, mortality, and sex and age distribution. The results from 1021 households indicated that dog ownership was common, with a higher proportion of households owning dogs in rural areas (89%), than in towns (63%) or cities (49%). Dog density ranged from 1380 ± 183 to 1509 ± 972 dogs km^-2 in cities, from 119 ± 18 to 1544 ± 172 dogs km^-2 in towns, and from 1.0 ± 0.4 to 15.9 ± 0.4 dogs km^-2 in rural sites. The dog population was estimated to be growing at 20% in cities, 19% in towns and 9% in rural areas. The human:dog ratio ranged from 5.2 to 6.2 in cities, from 2.3 to 5.3 in towns, and from 1.1 to 2.1 in rural areas. A high percentage of owned dogs was always allowed to roam freely in the different areas (27%, 50% and 67% in cities, towns and rural areas, respectively). Observations of free-roaming dogs of unknown owner were reported from a greater proportion of respondents in cities (74%), followed by towns (51%) and finally by rural areas (21%). Overall only 3% of dogs had been castrated. In addition, only 29% of dogs were reported to have been vaccinated against canine distemper virus (CDV) and 30% against canine parvovirus (CPV). The higher population size and density, higher growth rate and a higher turnover of domestic dogs in urban than in rural areas and the poorly supervised and inadequately vaccinated dog populations in urban areas suggest that urban areas are more likely to provide suitable conditions for dogs to acts as reservoirs of pathogenic infections.

Acosta-Jamett, G., Chalmers, W. S. K., Cunningham, A. A., Cleaveland, S., Handel, I. G., & Bronsvoort, B. M. (2011). Urban domestic dog populations as a source of canine distemper virus for wild carnivores in the Coquimbo region of Chile. Veterinary microbiology, 152(3), 247-257.

Urban areas can support dog populations dense enough to maintain canine distemper virus (CDV) and can be a source of infection for rural dogs and free-ranging carnivores. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationships between urban and rural domestic dog and wild carnivore populations and their effects on the epidemiology of CDV to explain retrospectively a CD outbreak in wild foxes in 2003. From 2005 to 2007 a cross-sectional household questionnaire survey was conducted in Coquimbo and Ovalle cities, in three towns and in rural sites along two transects from these cities to the Fray Jorge National Park (FJNP) in the Coquimbo region, Chile. Blood samples were collected from unvaccinated dogs at surveyed households and from free-ranging foxes in rural areas along the transects. The seroprevalence of CDV in domestic dogs was higher in urban than in rural areas and in the later was highest in dogs born before 2001–2002. The seroprevalence of CDV in foxes was higher in areas closer to human settlements. A high seroprevalence in dogs born before 2001–2002 further supports a link between CDV patterns in rural dog and fox populations. In our study area, urban dogs are proposed to be the source of CDV infection to wild carnivores. The large dog population size and density detected in Coquimbo and Ovalle provides optimal conditions for maintaining a large and dense susceptible population of dogs, which can act as a reservoir for highly infectious diseases and could have been the source of infection in the CD outbreak in wild foxes.