Canine distemper in endangered Ethiopian wolves

Gordon, C. H., Banyard, A. C., Hussein, A., Laurenson, M. K., Malcolm, J. R., Marino, J., ... & Sillero-Zubiri, C. (2015). Canine distemper in endangered Ethiopian wolves. Emerging infectious diseases, 21(5), 824.

The Ethiopian wolf (Canis simensis) is the world’s rarest canid; ≈500 wolves remain. The largest population is found within the Bale Mountains National Park (BMNP) in southeastern Ethiopia, where conservation efforts have demonstrated the negative effect of rabies virus on wolf populations. We describe previously unreported infections with canine distemper virus (CDV) among these wolves during 2005–2006 and 2010. Death rates ranged from 43% to 68% in affected subpopulations and were higher for subadult than adult wolves (83%–87% vs. 34%–39%). The 2010 CDV outbreak started 20 months after a rabies outbreak, before the population had fully recovered, and led to the eradication of several focal packs in BMNP’s Web Valley. The combined effect of rabies and CDV increases the chance of pack extinction, exacerbating the typically slow recovery of wolf populations, and represents a key extinction threat to populations of this highly endangered carnivore.

Adult and subadult Ethiopian wolf population in Sanetti Plateau, Ethiopia, 2002–2013. Dots indicate wolf population estimates at different time points; arrows indicate canine distemper virus outbreaks in this study.

Density of adult and subadult Ethiopian wolf population in Web Valley, Ethiopia, 2002–2013. Dots indicate wolf population estimates at different time points; arrows indicate known rabies epizootics and canine distemper virus outbreaks in this study. Of 7 wolf packs in Web Valley, 4 went extinct after the 2010 canine distemper virus outbreak; in 2011, two new packs formed in the area.

Community knowledge, attitude and practice of rabies in Ethiopia

Serebe, S. G., Tadesse, K. A., Yizengaw, H. A., & Tamrat, S. M. (2014). Study on community knowledge, attitude and practice of rabies in and nearby Gondar town, North West Ethiopia. Journal of Public Health and Epidemiology,6(12), 429-435.

Rabies is one of the disastrous diseases for both animal and human beings. Questionaire based cross-sectional study was conducted in and nearby Gondar town from November 2013 to June 2014. A semi-structured questionnaire was administered to 139 respondents comprised of 96 from urban and 43 from peri-urban areas to assess knowledge, attitude and practice of community about rabies. The current study generally illustrated the presence of significant difference on knowledge and practice of the respondent from urban and peri-urban areas (P < 0.05). Although more than (96%) of the respondents were familiar with the disease, there is mis-perception about the cause and means of transmission of the disease. Starvation and thirst were mentioned by (49.6%) of the respondents as causes of the disease in dogs and 21.6% of them stated any type of contact (irrespective of the skin condition) with saliva of affected individual can transmit the diseases. The result also established that 124 (91.9%) of the respondents were aware that human and other different species of domestic animals can be affected by rabies. However, all respondents (100%) in peri-urban area perceived dog as the only source of infection for human being. Traditional medicine was stated as method of treatment in case of dog bite by 46% of the respondents whereas, 41.7% of respondent used post exposure vaccination. Only 35.8% of the respondent did vaccinate their dogs and level of low vaccination practice was higher in peri-urban area. Raising awareness about dog vaccination and improving access and affordability of the vaccine should be considered in control of the disease.

Gastro intestinal parasites in Stray dogs in Ethiopia

Gugsa, G., Hailu, T., Kalayou, S., Abebe, N., & Hagos, Y. (2015). Prevalence and Worm Burdens of Gastro-Intestinal Parasites in Stray Dogs of Mekelle City, Tigray, Ethiopia. American-Eurasian J. Agric. & Environ. Sci., 15 (1): 08-15

Stray dogs (Canis familiaris) are ownerless native dogs of mostly non descriptive nature which roam
freely without human supervision and gastrointestinal parasites are common pathogens in these dogs and some are reservoirs of parasitic infections of humans. A study on gastrointestinal parasites of free roaming dogs was conducted from November 2009 to April 2010 with the objective of determining the prevalence and intensity of GI parasites of stray dogs and documenting the helminth biodiversity of stray dogs so as to provide baseline information on GI parasites infection of stray dogs on a local scale in Mekelle city. A total of 11 stray dogs were captured and euthanized. Necropsy finding was done and the contents of their alimentary canal were inspected. Statistical tests were performed using SPSS 15.0 windows version. The necropsy finding revealed that 72.72% free roaming dogs were found to be harborcestodes, nematodes and mixed infections. Five species of cestodes and two species of nematodes were found to be adult worms in their respective hosts. The highest parasite burdens (72.72%) were found for S. lupi and D. caninum and the lowest parasite burden was recorded for T. serrata (9.1%). The sex of the euthanized dogs had a significant difference in the prevalence of GI helminthes in the two sexes (p<0.05). Female dogs (100%) were found to be more likely infected by gastrointestinal helminthes than male dogs (62.5%). From the whole gastrointestinal parasites, the highest and lowest mean worm burdens were seen for S. lupi (9.13) and T. serrata (1), respectively. Of these reported parasites some of them have public health importance but dogs harbouring the parasites are living freely and friendly with the public. Hence, there should be a practice of regularand appropriate stray dogs control and health management of owned dogs. In addition, further epidemiological studies should be conducted to investigate the rate of seasonal infection and the level of environmental contamination

Mass dog poisoning operation in Addis Ababa

Yilma D.A. 2013. Mass dog poisoning operation in Addis Ababa can have severe repercussions on vulture populations. Vulture News 64: 74–76

In Addis Ababa until April 2013 at least 12 000 stray dogs were poisoned, in relation to the potential and growing concern of the risk of rabies to society, and dumped unburied at the city dump.

Dog diseases threat Ethiopian wolf

Laurenson, K., Sillero‐Zubiri, C., Thompson, H., Shiferaw, F., Thirgood, S., & Malcolm, J. (1998). Disease as a threat to endangered species: Ethiopian wolves, domestic dogs and canine pathogens. Animal Conservation, 1(4), 273-280.

With increasing awareness of disease as an endangering process, an assessment of which pathogens might pose a problem and their patterns of infection in natural hosts is necessary. This paper examines the exposure of sympatric Ethiopian wolves (Canis simensis) and domestic dogs to canine distemper virus (CDV), canine adenovirus (CAV) and canine parvovirus (CPV) in the Bale region, Ethiopia and then relates these data to population trends of wolves. Wolves (n= 30) sampled between 1989 and 1992 had been exposed to CDV, CAV and CPV, but only CAV might be able to persist in this wolf population. Anecdotal and serological evidence suggested that an epidemic of CDV occurred in the dog population of the Bale Mountains National Park (BMNP) in 1992–93. All park dogs born since this time were seronegative to CDV, although some young dogs in the nearby urban population were seropositive. Despite evidence of CAV infection in wolves, none of the dogs sampled in the park were CAV seropositive, although this virus appeared highly seroprevalent and endemic in urban dogs. All dogs tested for CPV antibodies were seropositive. The BMNP wolf population declined in the late 1980s and early 1990s, with rabies responsible for a dramatic population reduction between 1990 and 1992. Although the population declined further up until 1995, it is not possible to assess whether the concurrent canine distemper epidemic in park dogs also affected wolves. Nevertheless, with evidence of rabies, CDV, CAV and CPV infections in sympatric domestic dogs and Ethiopian wolves, canid diseases clearly pose a significant threat to the future persistence of this Ethiopian wolf population.

Wild predators enhance potential disease transmission to Ethiopian wolf

Atickem, A., Williams, S., Bekele, A., & Thirgood, S. (2010). Livestock predation in the Bale Mountains, Ethiopia. African Journal of Ecology, 48(4), 1076-1082.

In the Web Valley of the Bale Mountains National Park, the pastoral people suffer from livestock predation by wild carnivores. A total of 704 livestock were reported to be killed by wild carnivores over a 3-year period, causing a loss of potential revenue of 12 USD per year per household. Reported annual predation rates equated to 1.4% of the livestock population of the study area. Spotted hyaenas were responsible for most livestock predation (57%), followed by leopards (18%), common jackals (16%) and servals (9%). Hyaenas killed all livestock types (horses, donkeys, mules, cattle, goats and sheep) whilst leopards, common jackals and servals killed mostly goats and sheep. A survey of 362 households revealed that the pastoral people keep dogs to protect livestock from carnivores. During 250 nights of observation in the ten settlements, pastoralists were alerted to the presence of hyaenas on 80 occasions by the barking of their dogs. Such tradition of keeping dogs presents a threat to the persistence of the endangered Ethiopian wolf through diseases transmission. Given the frequency of carnivore attacks on livestock, it is desirable to develop alternative livestock protection methods that both minimize livestock losses and reduce the risk of disease transmission to Ethiopian wolves.

Domestic cat, the first fowl predator, Ethiopian farmers say

Selam, M., & Kelay, B. (2013). Causes of village chicken mortality and interventions by farmers in Ada’a District, Ethiopia. International Journal of Livestock Production, 4(6), 88-94.

The research was conducted in Ada’a district of the Eastern Shoa Zone, Ethiopia. This study was undertaken to investigate the major causes of chicken mortality under village production system and the intervention measures by farmers against the major causes of chicken mortality under village conditions. Data were collected through structured questionnaire from 180 households. Simple random sampling method was used to select the peasant associations and the households. The majority of the respondents put predation (91.9%) and disease (86.4%) as major causes of mortality in chicken older than 7 days. More than half of hatched chicks are lost due to mismanagement (29.4%), predation (67.8%) and other causes were also mentioned by less than 10% of the respondents. Significant proportion of the respondents (48.3%) did not provide modern medicine and those using, utilize mainly broad spectrum medicines without consulting veterinarians. The traditional medicaments included different medicinal plant species. As a conclusion, chicken in the study areas are highly affected by mortality due to predation and diseases. Appropriate management should be taken, therefore, to control the incidence of disease and reduce the loss of chicken kept under village chicken production systems due to predation and mismanagement.

Rabies risk to Ethiopian wolf

Haydon, D. T., Laurenson, M. K., & Sillero‐Zubiri, C. (2002). Integrating epidemiology into population viability analysis: managing the risk posed by rabies and canine distemper to the Ethiopian wolf. Conservation Biology, 16(5), 1372-1385.

Infectious disease constitutes a substantial threat to the viability of endangered species. Population viability analysis (PVA) can be a useful tool for directing conservation management when decisions must be made and information is absent or incomplete. Incorporating epidemiological dynamics explicitly into a PVA framework is technically challenging, but here we make a first attempt to integrate formal stochastic models of the combined dynamics of rabies and canine distemper into a PVA of the Ethiopian wolf ( Canis simensis), a critically endangered canid. In the absence of disease, populations in habitat patches of every size were remarkably stable and persistent. When rabies virus was introduced, epidemics, assumed to arise from sporadic dog-to-wolf transmission, caused extinction probabilities over 50 years to rise linearly with the force of infection from the dog reservoir and particularly steeply in smaller populations. Sensitivity analysis revealed that although the overall pattern of results was not altered fundamentally by small to moderate changes in disease-transmission rates or the way in which interpack disease transmission was modeled, results were sensitive to the process of female recruitment to male-only packs. Completely protecting wolf populations from rabies through vaccination is likely to be impractical, but the model suggested that direct vaccination of as few as 20–40% of wolves against rabies might be sufficient to eliminate the largest epidemics and therefore protect populations from the very low densities that make recovery unlikely. Additional simulations suggested that the affect of periodic epidemics of canine distemper virus on wolf population persistence was likely to be slight, even when modeled together with rabies. From a management perspective, our results suggest that conservation action to protect even the smallest populations of Ethiopian wolves from rabies is both worthwhile and urgent.

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Las enfermedades infecciosas constituyen una amenaza sustancial contra la viabilidad de las especies en peligro. El análisis de viabilidad poblacional ( PVA) puede ser una herramienta útil para dirigir la conservación para el manejo cuando las decisiones deben ser tomadas y la información es escasa o incompleta. La incorporación de dinámicas epidemiológicas explícitamente dentro de una marco PVA es técnicamente un reto; sin embargo, llevamos a cabo el primer intento para integrar modelos estocásticos formales de la dinámica de la rabia y del moquillo canino para un PVA del lobo etíope (Canis simensis), un cánido críticamente amenazado. En ausencia de la enfermedad, las poblaciones que habitan parches de hábitat de todos los tamaños fueron llamativamente estables y persistentes. Cuando se introduce el virus de la rabia, las epidemias, que supuestamente surgen de transmisiones esporádicas de perro a lobo, hicieron que las probabilidades de extinción sobre 50 años se incrementaran linealmente con la fuerza de la infección del perro reservorio y particularmente de manera abrupta en poblaciones pequeñas. El análisis de sensibilidad reveló que a pesar de que el patrón general de los resultados no haya sido alterado fundamentalmente por cambios pequeños o moderados en las tasas de transmisión de la enfermedad ni por la forma en que la transmisión de la enfermedad al interior del grupo fue modelada, los resultados fueron sensibles al proceso de reclutamiento de hembras en grupos de machos. La protección total de las poblaciones de lobos mediante vacunación contra la rabia probablemente no es práctica, pero el modelo sugiere que la vacunación directa de por lo menos un 20-40% de los lobos podría ser suficiente para eliminar las epidemias más grandes y por lo tanto proteger poblaciones con densidades muy bajas que harían poco probable una recuperación. Posteriores simulaciones sugirieron que las repercusiones sobre epidemias de moquillo canino en la persistencia de poblaciones de lobos serían probablemente ligeras, aún cuando se modelaran conjuntamente con la rabia. Desde la perspectiva del manejo, nuestros resultados sugieren que las acciones de conservación para proteger aún a las poblaciones más pequeñas de lobos etíopes de la rabia son importantes y urgentes.

Hybridization between dog and Ethiopian wolf

Gottelli, D, Sillero-Zubiri, C, Applebaum G.D., Roy MS, Girman D.J., García-Moreno, J., Ostrander, E.A. & Wayne, R.K.. (1994) Molecular genetics of the most endangered canid - the Ethiopian wolf Canis simensis. Molecular Ecology 3: 301–312.

The world's most endangered canid is the Ethiopian wolf Canis simensis, which is found in six isolated areas of the Ethiopian highlands with a total population of no more than 500 individuals. Ethiopian wolf populations are declining due to habitat loss and extermination by humans. Moreover, in at least one population, Ethiopian wolves are sympatric with domestic dogs, which may hybridize with them, compete for food, and act as disease vectors. Using molecular techniques, we address four questions concerning Ethiopian wolves that have conservation implications. First, we determine the relationships of Ethiopian wolves to other wolf-like canids by phylogenetic analysis of 2001 base pairs of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequence. Our results suggest that the Ethiopian wolf is a distinct species more closely related to gray wolves and coyotes than to any African canid. The mtDNA sequence similarity with gray wolves implies that the Ethiopian wolf may hybridize with domestic dogs, a recent derivative of the gray wolf. We examine this possibility through mtDNA restriction fragment analysis and analysis of nine microsatellite loci in populations of Ethiopian wolves. The results imply that hybridization has occurred between female Ethiopian wolves and male domestic dogs in one population. Finally, we assess levels of variability within and between two Ethiopian wolf populations. Although these closely situated populations are not differentiated, the level of variability in both is low, suggesting long-term effective population sizes of less than a few hundred individuals. We recommend immediate captive breeding of Ethiopian wolves to protect their gene pool from dilution and further loss of genetic variability.

Dogs prefer poo to rodents, so few competition for Ethiopian wolf

Atickem A., A. Bekele & S.D. William. 2009. Competition between domestic dogs and Ethiopian wolves (Canis simensis) in the Bale Mountains National Park, Ethiopia. African Journal of Ecology, 48: 401–407.

The potential effects of the domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) on the Endangered Ethiopian wolf (Canis simensis) through exploitative and interference competition were studied in the Web Valley of Bale Mountains national park between November 2001 and February 2003. All dogs were owned in the study area and no feral dogs were reported or observed during the research period. The diet of domestic dogs was dominated by barley husks and human faeces which contributed 45% and 20.7% of the total 382 meals observed during focal watch observations. Analysis of dog faeces provided similar results with barley husks, human faeces and animal carcasses occurring in 86.8%, 21.4% and 19.4% of the 1200 faecal samples analysed. Both focal watch and faecal analyses revealed that rodents contributed only a very small proportion of the diet of dogs accounting for only 4.2% of the focal watch and 2.8% of the faecal analysis of roaming dogs. As Ethiopian wolves fed almost exclusively on rodent year round, no significant exploitative competition between dogs and wolves were assessed. Only small proportion of the domestic dogs roamed in the Ethiopian wolf range and interference competition did not appear to be a serious threat for the Ethiopian wolf.