Pathogen exposure varies widely among sympatric populations of wild and domestic felids across the United States

Abstract

Abstract. Understanding how landscape, host, and pathogen traits contribute to disease exposure requires systematic evaluations of pathogens within and among host species and geographic regions. The relative importance of these attributes is critical for management of wildlife and mitigating domestic animal and human disease, particularly given rapid ecological changes, such as urbanization. We screened >1000 samples from sympatric populations of puma (Puma concolor), bobcat (Lynx rufus), and domestic cat (Felis catus) across urban gradients in six sites, representing three regions, in North America for exposure to a representative suite of bacterial, protozoal, and viral pathogens (Bartonella sp., Toxoplasma gondii, feline herpesvirus-1, feline panleukopenea virus, feline calicivirus, and feline immunodeficiency virus). We evaluated prevalence within each species, and examined host trait and land cover determinants of exposure; providing an unprecedented analysis of factors relating to potential for infections in domesticated and wild felids. Prevalence differed among host species (highest for puma and lowest for domestic cat) and was greater for indirectly transmitted pathogens. Sex was inconsistently predictive of exposure to directly transmitted pathogens only, and age infrequently predictive of both direct and indirectly transmitted pathogens. Determinants of pathogen exposure were widely divergent between the wild felid species. For puma, suburban land use predicted increased exposure to Bartonella sp. in southern California, and FHV-1 exposure increased near urban edges in Florida. This may suggest interspecific transmission with domestic cats via flea vectors (California) and direct contact (Florida) around urban boundaries. Bobcats captured near urban areas had increased exposure to T. gondii in Florida, suggesting an urban source of prey. Bobcats captured near urban areas in Colorado and Florida had higher FIV exposure, possibly suggesting increased intraspecific interactions through pile-up of home ranges. Beyond these regional and pathogen specific relationships, proximity to the wildland-urban interface did not generally increase the probability of disease exposure in wild or domestic felids, emphasizing the importance of local ecological determinants. Indeed, pathogen exposure was often negatively associated with the wildland-urban interface for all felids. Our analyses suggest cross-species pathogen transmission events around this interface may be infrequent, but followed by self-sustaining propagation within the new host species.

Host relatedness and landscape connectivity shape pathogen spread in a large secretive carnivore

“…Puma blood and tissue samples were collected from 103 individuals (48 males, 55 females) between 2005-2014 in the UB and 110 individuals (43 males, 54 females, 12 undetermined) between 2003-2015 from the WUI as part of monitoring efforts by Colorado Parks and Wildlife in the Rocky Mountain Range of Colorado, USA 19, 45 . This sampling effort is likely to represent a large proportion of the resident puma present in both regions during the sampling period 19 .…”

Urbanization impacts apex predator gene flow but not genetic diversity across an urban-rural divide

“…Urbanization is a major threat to biodiversity, and in particular to apex predators with broad home ranges (Cohen 2003; Theobald 2005; Crooks et al 2017). Habitat fragmentation due to urbanization can have important impacts on predator movement, disease, and survival (Markovchick-Nicholls et al 2008; Carver et al 2016; Fountain-Jones et al 2017). This reduced connectivity can lead to smaller, more isolated populations, where less gene flow and genetic diversity, as well as smaller effective population sizes (Riley et al 2006; Vandergast et al 2007; Ernest et al 2014) ultimately cause local and regional extirpations through environmental and demographic stochasticity and inbreeding depression (Allendorf et al 2013).…”

Synergistic China–US Ecological Research is Essential for Global Emerging Infectious Disease Preparedness

“…An important step in the right direction was the Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases (EEID) program through the NSF's announcement in August 2018, of the addition of the National Natural Science Foundation of China as a new international collaborative partner. Through a relatively modest government investment of $275 million USD (including contributions from foreign partners) since 2000, this program has funded over 150 individual projects and led to some key discoveries that have greatly advanced our understanding and prediction of EID spillover, amplification and spread (Lloyd-Smith et al 2005;Kilpatrick et al 2006;Gilbert et al 2008;Chiu et al 2019;Lee et al 2017;Carver et al 2016;Coffey et al 2008). Continuation of this program and further collaborative funding efforts between the USA and China are needed.…”