Geographical distribution and risk factors for Echinococcus granulosus infection in peri-urban wild dog populations

Abstract

The transmission of zoonotic pathogens associated with wildlife in peri-urban environments can be influenced by the interplay of numerous socioecological factors. Echinococcus granulosus is known to be common within peri-urban wild dog populations however knowledge of the factors that influence its presence is limited. We investigated the demographic distribution of adult cestode abundance (ACA: defined as the product between prevalence of infection and adult cestode infection intensity) and the role of the physical environment, climate and individual factors in determining the geographical variation of E. granulosus infection in wild dog populations from southeast Queensland and surrounds. Our results align with previous studies that show significant E. granulosus aggregation in that 15.8% of peri-urban wild dogs sampled were responsible for ∼70% of the total adult cestode infection intensity. On average, female dogs were found to have a higher ACA than male dogs, and the average ACA generally decreased with age. Significant geographical variation was found in the prevalence of E. granulosus, with a strong propensity for clustering. The average size of clusters was 22.5 km. The probability of finding E. granulosus infection significantly increased with maximum temperature, relative humidity, and rainfall, and after accounting for individual and climatic variables, the model accounted for the majority of the spatial dependence in prevalence. Our predictive map of E. granulosus prevalence in peri-urban wild dogs confirms that E. granulosus is highly endemic in the eastern Australia study area. The prediction map provides a useful tool for targeting potential disease management strategies in peri-urban areas, where broad scale management of wild dog populations is difficult to implement.

Africa-wide meta-analysis on the prevalence and distribution of human cystic echinococcosis and canine Echinococcus granulosus infections

“…This finding concurs with the report of Liu et al [58] from China. It however contradicts other reports from Iran [41,43], Chile [47] and Australia [51]. Our study also revealed a significantly higher prevalence of E. granulosus in stray than owned dogs.…”

“…The 16.9% Africa-wide prevalence of EGI observed in dogs falls within the ranges documented elsewhere. For instance, studies from Asia reported a range of 7.3 to 48.0% [41][42][43][44], those from Latin America reported a range of 9.3 to 42.3% [45][46][47][48], and in Australia, a range of 3.16 to 50.7% was also reported [49][50][51] affirming reports that E. granulosus is cosmopolitan in distribution. The infection in these dogs may pose the risk of environmental contamination which may in turn result in the infection of intermediate hosts like domestic ruminants thereby maintaining the disease.…”

Effects of geographical and climatic factors on cystic echinococcosis in south-western Iran

“…The results of the Harriott et al . (2019) study in Queensland, Australia, showed that CE infection rate significantly increased with higher rainfall, relative humidity and temperature. Veit et al .…”

Active shedding of Neospora caninum detected in Australian wild canids in a nonexperimental context

“…In contrast, the relationship between dingoes and humans changed drastically with European settlement and the implementation of agriculture (Rogers & Kaplan, 2003). Clearing of lands and farming practices led to dingo attacks on the newly introduced livestock, and arguably the start of the friction between pastoralists and dingoes (Coman, 1972; Harriott et al., 2019; Hytten, 2009; Jones, 2009; Sloan et al., 2017).…”

“…and farming practices led to dingo attacks on the newly introduced livestock, and arguably the start of the friction between pastoralists and dingoes (Coman, 1972;Harriott et al, 2019;Hytten, 2009;Jones, 2009;Sloan et al, 2017).…”