Population density, survival, and rabies in raccoons in an urban national park

Riley, Seth P. D.; Hadidian, John; Manski, David

doi:10.1139/cjz-76-6-1153

Cited by 76 publications

(78 citation statements)

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“…The local-scale dynamics that we analyse represents the spatial dynamics of raccoon populations occurring in human population centres. Raccoons readily adapt to an urban landscape where they find plentiful foraging opportunities and adequate locations for denning [21,22]. Urban settings are important since it is in this context that most human/raccoon interactions are likely to occur and are foci for human exposure to rabid raccoons.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Strong seasonality produces spatial asynchrony in the outbreak of infectious diseases

Duke‐Sylvester

Bolzoni

Real

2010

J. R. Soc. Interface.

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Models for infectious diseases usually assume a fixed demographic structure. Yet, a disease can spread over a region encountering different local demographic variations that may significantly alter local dynamics. Spatial heterogeneity in the resulting dynamics can lead to important differences in the design of surveillance and control strategies. We illustrate this by exploring the north -south gradient in the seasonal demography of raccoon rabies over the eastern USA. We find that the greater variance in the timing of spring births characteristic of southern populations can lead to the spatial synchronization of southern epidemics, while the narrow birth-pulse associated with northern populations can lead to an irregular patchwork of epidemics. These results indicate that surveillance in the southern states can be reduced relative to northern locations without loss of detection ability. This approach could yield significant savings in vaccination programmes. The importance of seasonality in many widely distributed diseases indicates that our findings will find applications beyond raccoon rabies.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Strong seasonality produces spatial asynchrony in the outbreak of infectious diseases

Duke‐Sylvester

Bolzoni

Real

2010

J. R. Soc. Interface.

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“…Because of their nocturnal habits, raccoons can be largely invisible to humans but can achieve large population densities. In fact, in some areas more raccoons can inhabit suburban areas than rural areas, reaching >90 raccoons/km 2 (25,26). In summary, the raccoon, a common, peridomestic, wild mammal is capable of becoming infected, transporting, and potentially transmitting avian and human infl uenza viruses.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influenza Infection in Wild Raccoons

Hall¹,

Bentler²,

Landolt³

et al. 2008

Emerg. Infect. Dis.

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Raccoons (Procyon lotor) are common, widely distributed animals that frequently come into contact with wild waterfowl, agricultural operations, and humans. Serosurveys showed that raccoons are exposed to avian infl uenza virus. We found antibodies to a variety of infl uenza virus subtypes (H10N7, H4N6, H4N2, H3, and H1) with wide geographic variation in seroprevalence. Experimental infection studies showed that raccoons become infected with avian and human infl uenza A viruses, shed and transmit virus to virus-free animals, and seroconvert. Analyses of cellular receptors showed that raccoons have avian and human type receptors with a similar distribution as found in human respiratory tracts. The potential exists for co-infection of multiple subtypes of infl uenza virus with genetic reassortment and creation of novel strains of infl uenza virus. Experimental and fi eld data indicate that raccoons may play an important role in infl uenza disease ecology and pose risks to agriculture and human health.T he primary reservoirs of avian infl uenza (AI) are wild birds in the orders Anseriformes (ducks, geese, and swans) and Charadriiformes (gulls, terns, and shorebirds). In these hosts, low-pathogenic forms of the virus typically cause little or no apparent disease, however, large quantities of virus are shed in fecal matter. AI virus is relatively stable in water and can remain viable for up to 200 days, depending on temperature and other environmental factors (1). Thus, bodies of water and adjacent shorelines that wild birds use can become potentially contaminated, increasing the likelihood of subsequent exposure of avian and nonavian species to AI virus.The preference of infl uenza viruses for different cellular receptors and the presence and distribution of those receptors in the host are important factors involved in determining host range and tissue tropism (2). Humans are not typically infected by AI virus because receptors for this virus are distributed in tissues that are located predominantly in the lower respiratory tract. As such, these receptors are not as accessible as human type receptors found in the upper respiratory tissues and require more intimate contact for transmission. Swine are considered important intermediate hosts between birds and humans because they are frequently infected by avian and human infl uenza viruses (3). This fi nding underscores the potential for genetic reassortment that can create new, possibly more virulent subtypes.Other non-avian hosts of AI virus include mink, harbor seals, pilot whales, dogs, cats, and horses (4). These species were found to be competent hosts only after attracting attention because of severe death or illness (4). Wild mammals often reside in the same habitats as waterfowl, feed in the same agricultural areas, wallow and swim in the same bodies of water, and prey on and scavenge dead birds for food. Therefore, ample opportunities exist for free-ranging wild mammals to be exposed to AI by contact with waterfowl and their environment. Many of these species ...

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“…Raccoons (Procyon lotor) are an abundant native species that impact sea turtle conservation at many Florida beaches through nest depredation (Stancyk 1982;Williams-Walls et al 1983;Mroziak et al 2000;Garmestani and Percival 2005). Compounding the problem, raccoon populations flourish in association with humans because they often receive artificial support through refuse or direct feeding (Dickman and Doncaster 1987;Riley et al 1998;. Besides conservation problems posed by abundant native wildlife, Florida has one of the two most severe invasive species problems in the United States (US Congress 1993).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact on predation of sea turtle nests when predator control was removed midway through the nesting season

Engeman¹,

Martin²,

Smith³

et al. 2006

Wildl. Res.

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The beach at Hobe Sound National Wildlife Refuge (HSNWR) is a high-density nesting beach serving three species of threatened and endangered sea turtles. Historically, up to 95% of turtle nests at HSNWR were lost to predation by raccoons and armadillos. Consequently, predator control was identified as the most important conservation tool at HSNWR, and predator control optimised by predator monitoring led to highly successful results whereby predation had been reduced to low levels (7–13.5% of monitored nests) in 2002 and 2003. In 2004, funding shortfalls caused predator control to be curtailed with ~1.5–2 months remaining in the nesting/hatching season. We analysed the resulting effects on turtle nest predation levels compared with the results from 2002 and 2003. The predation rate in 2004 compared favourably with that of 2002 and 2003 until the end of June, after which control was curtailed. Thereafter, predation rapidly accelerated, with the 2004 predation rate increasing to 1.5–3 times the rates from 2002 and 2003 by the end of August. The discrepancy in all likelihood would have grown further, except Hurricane Frances destroyed all remaining nests with 1.5–2 months left in the nesting/hatching season. Product-limit survival analyses demonstrated substantial differences in turtle nest survival between 2004 versus 2002 and 2003, but not between 2002 and 2003. When analysed as cohorts based on month of nest deposition, no differences were found among 2002, 2003, 2004 for nests deposited in May. These nests received full protection from predation in each of the three years. However, the survival analyses for nests deposited in June, and those deposited in July showed inferior survival for 2004 when predator control was removed for the last half of nesting/hatching.

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Population density, survival, and rabies in raccoons in an urban national park

Cited by 76 publications

References 0 publications

Strong seasonality produces spatial asynchrony in the outbreak of infectious diseases

Strong seasonality produces spatial asynchrony in the outbreak of infectious diseases

Influenza Infection in Wild Raccoons

Impact on predation of sea turtle nests when predator control was removed midway through the nesting season

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