Leptospirosis in Fox Squirrels (Sciurus niger) of Larimer County, Colorado, USA

Dirsmith, Katherine L.; VanDalen, Kaci K.; Fry, Tricia L.; Charles, Brad; VerCauteren, Kurt C.; Duncan, Colleen

doi:10.7589/2012-10-265

Cited by 9 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 8 publications

(10 reference statements)

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“…The high number of fox squirrels still shedding ONRAB ® DNA at 7 dpi was unexpected and may be explained by more efficient viral replication in fox squirrel cells or some false-positive detection by PCR. Additionally, at necropsy it was determined that at least 50% of fox squirrels were co-infected with Leptospira interrogans [16]. This co-infection may be a confounding factor, compromising an animal's immune system and ability to clear the virus, resulting in the prolonged detection of ONRAB ® DNA in fecal swabs from these animals.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The safety of ONRAB® in select non-target wildlife

Fry

VanDalen

Duncan

et al. 2013

Vaccine

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ONRAB(®) is a recombinant human adenovirus type 5 (HAd5) with the rabies glycoprotein gene incorporated into its genome. ONRAB(®) has been used in Canada as an oral rabies vaccine in target wildlife species such as: red fox (Vulpes vulpes), raccoon (Procyon lotor), and striped skunk (Mepthis mephitis). We evaluated the safety of ONRAB(®) in non-target wildlife species likely to contact the vaccine baits during oral rabies vaccine campaigns in the United States. We investigated the effects of oral inoculation of high titer ONRAB(®), approximately ten times the dose given to target species, in wood rats (Neotoma spp.), eastern cottontail rabbits (Sylvilagus floridanus), Virginia opossums (Didelphis virginiana), eastern wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo silvestri), and fox squirrels (Sciurus niger). We performed real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) on fecal swabs, oral swabs, and tissues, including lung, liver, kidney, small intestine, large intestine, and when appropriate nasal turbinates, to detect ONRAB(®) DNA from inoculated animals. By seven days post-inoculation, turkeys, opossums, and cottontails had all stopped shedding ONRAB(®) DNA. One wood rat and one fox squirrel still had detectable levels of ONRAB(®) DNA in fecal swabs 14 days post-inoculation. Real-time PCR analysis of the tissues revealed some ONRAB(®) DNA persisting in certain tissues; however, there were no significant gross or histologic lesions associated with ONRAB(®) in any of the species studied. Our results suggest that many non-target species are not likely to be impacted by the distribution of ONRAB(®) as part of oral rabies vaccination programs in the United States.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The safety of ONRAB® in select non-target wildlife

Fry

VanDalen

Duncan

et al. 2013

Vaccine

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“…Furthermore, the highly similar temporal distribution of normalized OD values in ELISA indicate that these pigs are constantly exposed to Leptospira species in the environment, and there is a real risk for cross-species transmission to wildlife species, livestock, and humans. Cross-species disease transmission between wildlife, domestic animals, and humans is an increasing threat to public and veterinary health [ 30 , 31 ]. Human leptospirosis occurs from indirect environment-mediated exposure to pathogenic leptospires through contaminated watered environments, possibly from the urine of infection animals, including feral pigs.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Molecular and Serological Prevalence of Leptospira spp. in Feral Pigs (Sus scrofa) and their Habitats in Alabama, USA

et al. 2020

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Leptospirosis is a widespread zoonosis and has been recognized as a re-emerging infectious disease in humans and a variety of wild and domestic animal species. In order to understand the prevalence and diversity of Leptospira spp. in feral pig populations of Alabama, we trapped 315 feral pigs in Bullock County east-central Alabama, and collected 97 environmental samples from riparian areas in Bullock County and Macon County east-central Alabama. Two previously published PCRs followed by DNA sequencing and BLASTn were performed to identify pathogenic Leptospira species in the kidney of feral pigs (3.2%, 10/315) as well as environmental samples collected from the habitats of feral pigs (2.1%, 2/97), but not in the whole blood samples (n = 276) or spleen (n = 51). An ELISA determined that 44.2% of serum samples (122/276) were antibody-positive for Leptospira. The identification of two pathogenic Leptospira species from environmental samples and the high sero-positivity in feral pigs suggests potential pathogen shedding from feral pigs to environments, and to humans and domestic animals. In order to better understand the risk to human health associated with feral swine presence, further studies are warranted to explore the interrelationship between Leptospira spp. shedding in the urine of feral pigs and bacterial culture to explore pathogenicity. Multi-locus sequencing typing (MLST) and microscopic agglutination tests (MAT) should be performed in future studies to make a definite determination of pathogenic Leptospira in feral pigs in Alabama.

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“…Most rodents found in the wild possess lots of economic and ecological benefits ranging from seed dispersal to source of protein/food to source of medicine but have also been reported to be involved in the transmission of zoonotic diseases (Stenseth et al, 2003). Squirrels are one of the peri-urban rodents which have been found to co-exist with humans, feeding on food leftovers and invading as well as destroying farm crops, all of which could be a possible means of transmission of zoonotic diseases (Dirsmith et al, 2013). Some of the zoonotic diseases associated with rodents include rat bite fever, tularemia, lymphocytic choriomeningitis, salmonellosis and leptospirosis (Bengis et al, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Their presumed large population (including within the study area) and wide distribution has probably made them to be listed as Least Concern (LC) by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). They are important reservoir hosts or carrier animals and their infection may be associated with varying degrees of renal disease (Dirsmith et al, 2013). Since leptospira have been detected in some species of squirrel (Montes Aliaga et al, 2011;Dirsmith et al, 2013;Gozzi et al, 2013;Mosallanejad et al, 2016), human transmission is therefore plausible being a zoonotic disease and also considering human-animal interaction.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They are important reservoir hosts or carrier animals and their infection may be associated with varying degrees of renal disease (Dirsmith et al, 2013). Since leptospira have been detected in some species of squirrel (Montes Aliaga et al, 2011;Dirsmith et al, 2013;Gozzi et al, 2013;Mosallanejad et al, 2016), human transmission is therefore plausible being a zoonotic disease and also considering human-animal interaction. Very few data exist in the literature as regards the role of squirrels in the epidemiology of leptospirosis (Cilia et al, 2021) especially in developing countries like Nigeria (Ajayi et al, 2017) while very little or no information exists about the knowledge of squirrels as carrier animals for leptospirosis within the University of Ibadan.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Squirrels and Transmission of Leptospirosis: Awareness and Perception of the University of Ibadan Main Campus Residents, Nigeria

Omonona¹,

Jubril

Durosinmi

et al. 2022

AJHSE

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The co-existence or interaction of squirrels with humans and domestic animals within the urban environment could serve as an interface for the disease transmission like leptospirosis. The study examined the level of awareness and perception of the University of Ibadan campus residents on squirrels as it relates to human transmission of leptospirosis. Data were collected through the administration of 102 copies of semi-structured questionnaire to residents of the University of Ibadan living quarters using simple random sampling technique. Data obtained were subjected to descriptive and correlation analysis. Data were analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 20 with statistical significance set at α005. The socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents showed that majority were males (56.9%), singles (61.4%) had HND/B.Sc as highest educational qualification (44.0%) and had resided within the study area for less than 10 years (64.5%). Most respondents (64.7%) felt safe seeing squirrels around them while a good number of them (37.3%) did know if squirrels carry organisms that cause leptospirosis. Majority of the respondents (58.8%) did not know if leptospirosis is a common zoonotic disease while 51.0% did not know some of the symptoms of leptospirosis. There was a positive correlation (r=0.012) between educational status and perception of leptospirosis. There is need for proper education as regards squirrels being potential carriers of leptospira bacteria and this should be done in such a way that residents do not attack or aim at eradicating squirrels in the study area.

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Leptospirosis in Fox Squirrels (Sciurus niger) of Larimer County, Colorado, USA

Cited by 9 publications

References 8 publications

The safety of ONRAB® in select non-target wildlife

The safety of ONRAB® in select non-target wildlife

Molecular and Serological Prevalence of Leptospira spp. in Feral Pigs (Sus scrofa) and their Habitats in Alabama, USA

Squirrels and Transmission of Leptospirosis: Awareness and Perception of the University of Ibadan Main Campus Residents, Nigeria

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