Aggression and Rabid Coyotes, Massachusetts, USA

Wang, Xingtai; Brown, Catherine; Smole, Sandra; Werner, Barbara G.; Han, Lijin; Farris, Michael L.; DeMaria, Alfred

doi:10.3201/eid1602.090731

Cited by 6 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…For example, raccoons (Procyon lotor) infected with canine distemper virus commonly exhibit abnormal behavior including lethargy, ataxia, and less wariness toward humans (Cranfield et al, 1984). Similarly, carnivores infected with the rabies virus typically exhibit increased aggression (Wang et al, 2010 (Luong et al, 2020), prompting public concern regarding exposure to parasites in urban green spaces (Deplazes et al, 2004).…”

Section: Health and Diseasementioning

confidence: 99%

The evolutionary consequences of human–wildlife conflict in cities

Schell

Stanton

Young³

et al. 2020

Evolutionary Applications

101

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Human–wildlife interactions, including human–wildlife conflict, are increasingly common as expanding urbanization worldwide creates more opportunities for people to encounter wildlife. Wildlife–vehicle collisions, zoonotic disease transmission, property damage, and physical attacks to people or their pets have negative consequences for both people and wildlife, underscoring the need for comprehensive strategies that mitigate and prevent conflict altogether. Management techniques often aim to deter, relocate, or remove individual organisms, all of which may present a significant selective force in both urban and nonurban systems. Management‐induced selection may significantly affect the adaptive or nonadaptive evolutionary processes of urban populations, yet few studies explicate the links among conflict, wildlife management, and urban evolution. Moreover, the intensity of conflict management can vary considerably by taxon, public perception, policy, religious and cultural beliefs, and geographic region, which underscores the complexity of developing flexible tools to reduce conflict. Here, we present a cross‐disciplinary perspective that integrates human–wildlife conflict, wildlife management, and urban evolution to address how social–ecological processes drive wildlife adaptation in cities. We emphasize that variance in implemented management actions shapes the strength and rate of phenotypic and evolutionary change. We also consider how specific management strategies either promote genetic or plastic changes, and how leveraging those biological inferences could help optimize management actions while minimizing conflict. Investigating human–wildlife conflict as an evolutionary phenomenon may provide insights into how conflict arises and how management plays a critical role in shaping urban wildlife phenotypes.

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Section: Health and Diseasementioning

confidence: 99%

The evolutionary consequences of human–wildlife conflict in cities

Schell

Stanton

Young³

et al. 2020

Evolutionary Applications

101

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Other studies have continued to highlight the relationship between rabid wildlife and aggressive behaviour (Rosatte et al., ; Wang et al., ,b, ). However, only suspect rabid animals were included in these studies, and as such, aggressive behaviour of wild animals may be over reported compared with clinical signs of dumb rabies (i.e.…”

Section: Rabiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Canine Rabies inAustralia: A Review of Preparedness and Research Needs

Sparkes

Fleming

Ballard

et al. 2014

Zoonoses and Public Health

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Australia is unique as a populated continent in that canine rabies is exotic, with only one likely incursion in 1867. This is despite the presence of a widespread free-ranging dog population, which includes the naturalized dingo, feral domestic dogs and dingo-dog cross-breeds. To Australia's immediate north, rabies has recently spread within the Indonesian archipelago, with outbreaks occurring in historically free islands to the east including Bali, Flores, Ambon and the Tanimbar Islands. Australia depends on strict quarantine protocols to prevent importation of a rabid animal, but the risk of illegal animal movements by fishing and recreational vessels circumventing quarantine remains. Predicting where rabies will enter Australia is important, but understanding dog population dynamics and interactions, including contact rates in and around human populations, is essential for rabies preparedness. The interactions among and between Australia's large populations of wild, free-roaming and restrained domestic dogs require quantification for rabies incursions to be detected and controlled. The imminent risk of rabies breaching Australian borders makes the development of disease spread models that will assist in the deployment of cost-effective surveillance, improve preventive strategies and guide disease management protocols vitally important. Here, we critically review Australia's preparedness for rabies, discuss prevailing assumptions and models, identify knowledge deficits in free-roaming dog ecology relating to rabies maintenance and speculate on the likely consequences of endemic rabies for Australia.

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“…The association between animal aggression and rabies virus infection has been described for raccoon rabies variant as well as other rabies strains [ 3 - 5 ]. We had previously reported that signs of aggression, ataxia, disorientation and paralysis were significantly associated with RRV rabies, adjusting for wild versus domestic animals, animal species, and introduction of RRV in Massachusetts [ 6 - 8 ]. In this study, we demonstrate that report of aggression is associated with RRV rabies in wild animals, but may be less useful as a predictor of rabies in domestic animals.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Signs Observed Among Animal Species Infected with Raccoon Rabies Variant Virus, Massachusetts, USA, 1992–2010

Wang

Werner

Smole

et al. 2011

Animals

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Simple SummaryWe analyzed signs occurring among domestic and wild terrestrial animal species with raccoon rabies variant virus in Massachusetts, 1992–2010. While aggression is a useful predictor of rabies among wild animals, combinations of other signs such as ataxia, disorientation, and salivation are useful predictors of rabies among domestic animals.AbstractWe analyzed signs occurring among domestic and wild terrestrial animal species infected with raccoon rabies variant virus (RRV) in Massachusetts, 1992–2010. The clinical sign of aggression was significantly associated with rabid stray cats (odds ratio, OR = 2.3) and RRV affected major wild terrestrial animal species individually, which included raccoons (OR = 2.8), skunks (OR = 8.0), gray foxes (OR = 21.3), red foxes (OR = 10.4), woodchucks (OR = 4.7) and coyotes (OR = 27.6). While aggression is a useful predictor of rabies among wild animals, combinations of other signs such as ataxia, disorientation, and salivation are useful predictors of rabies among domestic animals. Pets reported with multiple clinical signs had significantly higher rabies positive testing result than those reported with single clinical sign (p < 0.001). The result suggested the importance of avoiding aggressive terrestrial wild animals and giving additional attention to pets with multiple clinical signs.

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Aggression and Rabid Coyotes, Massachusetts, USA

Cited by 6 publications

References 3 publications

The evolutionary consequences of human–wildlife conflict in cities

The evolutionary consequences of human–wildlife conflict in cities

Canine Rabies inAustralia: A Review of Preparedness and Research Needs

Signs Observed Among Animal Species Infected with Raccoon Rabies Variant Virus, Massachusetts, USA, 1992–2010

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