Disease Risk Analysis in sea turtles: A baseline study to inform conservation efforts

Abstract

49The impact of a range of different threats has resulted in the listing of six out of seven sea turtle 50 species on the IUCN Red List of endangered species. Disease risk analysis (DRA) tools are designed to 51 provide objective, repeatable and documented assessment of the disease risks for a population and 52 measures to reduce these risks through management options. To the best of our knowledge, DRAs 53 have not previously been published for sea turtles, although disease is reported to contribute to sea 54 turtle population decline. Here, a comprehensive list of health hazards is provided for all seven 55 species of sea turtles. The possible risk these hazards pose to the health of sea turtles were assessed 56 and "One Health" aspects of interacting with sea turtles were also investigated. The risk assessment 57 was undertaken in collaboration with more than 30 experts in the field including veterinarians, 58 microbiologists, social scientists, epidemiologists and stakeholders, in the form of two international 59 workshops and one local workshop. The general finding of the DRA was the distinct lack of 60 knowledge regarding a link between the presence of pathogens and diseases manifestation in sea 61 turtles. A higher rate of disease in immunocompromised individuals was repeatedly reported and a 62 possible link between immunosuppression and environmental contaminants as a result of 63 anthropogenic influences was suggested. Society based conservation initiatives and as a result the 64 cultural and social aspect of interacting with sea turtles appeared to need more attention and 65 research. A risk management workshop was carried out to acquire the insights of local policy makers 66 about management options for the risks relevant to Queensland and the options were evaluated 67 considering their feasibility and effectiveness. The sea turtle DRA presented here, is a structured 68 guide for future risk assessments to be used in specific scenarios such as translocation and head-69 starting programs. 70 71 72 73 3 74 101 Species Survival Commission in 2014. The manual addresses different scenarios for endangered 102 species and translocating them for conservation purposes and enables the pros and cons of these 103actions to be thoroughly investigated (11). In order to accommodate the unique biology of sea 104 turtles, the DRA process as described in this manual requires certain modifications to realistically 105 articulate with situations such as translocating animals or investigating the risks of disease for a 106 population in its normal habitat. A 2015 study describes a systematic approach to investigate 107 disease-related population decline without confining the assessment to a particular scenario or 108 location (6). This method is a modified version of a DRA based on epidemiological principles (6) for 109 any declining wildlife population. A successful DRA considers the study population in the context of 110 the environment. 111In the 1960's, Calvin Schwabe coined the term "One Medicine" which then extended ...

Antibiotic Resistance and Virulence Profiles of Gram-Negative Bacteria Isolated from Loggerhead Sea Turtles (Caretta Caretta) of the Island of Maio, Cape Verde

“…and Morganella morganii have been described as pathogens of loggerheads and other sea turtle's species [10,18,36,37]. Aeromonas hydrophila and Vibrio alginolyticus have been associated with ulcerative stomatitis, ulcerative esophagitis, granulomatous hepatitis, granulomatous nephritis and bronchopneumonia [9,13,33,38]. Burkholderia cepacia has been associated with lesions of the oral cavity of these animals including ulcerative stomatitis, and traumatic skin lesions.…”

“…Biosecurity measures are, hence, required, particularly concerning volunteers and biologists interacting with sea turtles, working on nesting beaches, and handling eggs from natural nests [14]. Personal protective equipment (PPE) and hygiene practices have been proposed as effective and accessible options to decrease the risk of pathogen transmission [9]. Moreover, Mashkour et al [9] revealed that sea turtles' health experts encourage preventive solutions for the reduction of the risk of Enterobacteriaceae and multi-resistant bacterial infections based on education and awareness initiatives.…”

“…Previous studies revealed the presence of pathogenic Gram-negative bacteria in loggerhead sea turtles, while the detected isolates were predominantly opportunistic pathogens [7][8][9]. The bacterial species already described in sea turtles include Enterobacter sp., Citrobacter sp., Corynebacterium sp., Escherichia coli, Klebsiella sp., Proteus sp., Salmonella sp., Serratia sp., Morganella sp., Vibrio sp., Aeromonas sp.…”

“…The bacterial species already described in sea turtles include Enterobacter sp., Citrobacter sp., Corynebacterium sp., Escherichia coli, Klebsiella sp., Proteus sp., Salmonella sp., Serratia sp., Morganella sp., Vibrio sp., Aeromonas sp. and Pseudomonas sp., which have been associated with disease in loggerhead turtles, being also potential human pathogens [9][10][11][12][13][14][15].…”

“…However, in distinct loggerhead subpopulations and sea turtles' species, several zoonotic pathogens, including Salmonella sp., Campylobacter sp., Vibrio sp., Morganella sp., Aeromonas hydrophila, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli, were previously isolated from the turtles' gastrointestinal tract [15,[20][21][22][23]. Due to their zoonotic potential, these bacterial species are a concern in the context of One Health [9,24]. Moreover, the evidence of resistant strains in nesting sea turtles is of great concern, due to the probable transmission to humans, mainly to local populations [25].…”