Infectious Wildlife Diseases in Austria—A Literature Review From 1980 Until 2017

Abstract

This literature review examines infectious wildlife disease research in Austria. We analyzed 226 research papers, published between 1980 and 2017. We determined that wildlife disease papers increased significantly from 0.8 ± 0.8 publications per year in the first decade (1980-1989) when compared to 2008-2017 with an average of 12.9 ± 4.1 publications per year. We illustrate information about the most investigated diseases and highlight the lack of research into certain wildlife pathogens. A special emphasis was given to diseases with zoonotic potential. The review showed that research focused on a few select species like the red fox (Vulpes vulpes), red deer (Cervus elaphus), and wild boar (Sus scrofa), all game species. Moreover, diseases affecting livestock and human health were seen more often. The review also found that only a low number of publications actually stated disease prevalence and confidence interval data. The reported diseases identified were classified according to their notifiable status and the distribution at the wildlife-human and wildlife-livestock interface. Furthermore, we try to argue why research into some diseases is prioritized, and why other diseases are underrepresented in current Austrian research. While spatiotemporal indicators could not be assessed due to the variability in methodologies and objectives of various studies, the information provided by this review offers the first comprehensive evaluation of the status of infectious wildlife disease research in Austria. Therefore, this study could assist investigators to identify further areas of priorities for research and conservation efforts and for wildlife management professionals to inform policy and funding strategies. With this review, we want to encourage research in the field of wildlife diseases in Austria to enhance current knowledge in the prevention of further loss in biodiversity and to find new measures to promote "One Health" on a global scale.

Patterns of Exposure and Infection with Microparasites in Iberian Wild Carnivores: A Review and Meta-Analysis

“…The number of scientific publications focused on microparasites in Iberian carnivores increased at the end of the 20th century. This trend has been observed in other European countries [ 33 ]. The first article on this topic was published in Portugal in 1996, in which exposure to Leishmania infantum was investigated in five red foxes [ 34 ].…”

Serological screening in wild ruminants in Germany, 2021/2022: No evidence of SARS‐CoV‐2, bluetongue virus or pestivirus spread but high seroprevalences against Schmallenberg virus

“…Wild ruminants, either free‐ranging or raised in enclosures, can be infected by a wide range of infectious agents that are pathogenic to livestock animals or humans (Trimmel & Walzer, 2020 ). In the case of livestock diseases, spillover from domestic ruminants to wildlife is commonly assumed to be the initial source of infection and, conversely, wild animals may subsequently develop into a reservoir bearing the risk for re‐introduction of the disease into the livestock population.…”

“…From a public health perspective, wild ruminants are considered to be reservoir or maintenance hosts of multiple viral, bacterial, fungal or parasitic diseases (Trimmel & Walzer, 2020). Only recently, when the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) or specific antibodies were detected in white-tailed deer (Chandler et al, 2021;Hale et al, 2022;Kuchipudi et al, 2022), fears arose that cervid species could also form an animal reservoir for this virus.…”

Serological screening in wild ruminants in Germany, 2021/22: No evidence of SARS-CoV-2, bluetongue virus or pestivirus spread but high seroprevalences against Schmallenberg virus

“…Wild ruminants, either free-ranging or raised in enclosures, can be infected by a wide range of infectious agents that are pathogenic for livestock animals or humans [1]. In case of livestock diseases, spillover from domestic ruminants to wildlife is commonly assumed to be the initial source of infection and, conversely, wild animals may subsequently develop into a reservoir bearing the risk for re-introduction of the disease into the livestock population.…”

“…From a public health perspective, wild ruminants are considered to be reservoir or maintenance hosts of multiple viral, bacterial, fungal or parasitic diseases [1]. Only recently, when different variants of concern of the betacoronavirus severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) or specific antibodies were detected in white-tailed deer [29][30][31][32], fears arose that cervid species could form an animal reservoir also for this virus.…”