Wild canids, domestic dogs and their pathogens in Southeast Brazil: disease threats for canid conservation

Abstract

Wild canids are under many pressures, including habitat loss, fragmentation and disease. The current lack of information on the status of wildlife health may hamper conservation efforts in Brazil. In this paper, we examined the prevalence of canine pathogens in 21 free-ranging wild canids, comprising 12 Cerdocyon thous (crab-eating fox), 7 Chrysocyon brachyurus (maned wolf), 2 Lycalopex vetulus (hoary fox), and 70 nonvaccinated domestic dogs from the Serra do Cipó National Park area, Southeast Brazil. For wild canids, seroprevalence of antibodies to canine parvovirus, canine adenovirus, canine coronavirus and Toxoplasma gondii was 100 percent, respectively. Antibodies against canine distemper virus, Neospora caninum or Babesia spp. were not found. We tested domestic dogs for antibodies to canine parvovirus, canine distemper virus and Babesia spp., and seroprevalences were 59 (41/70), 66 (46/70), and 42 (40/70) percent, respectively, with significantly higher prevalence in domestic dogs for CDV (P \ 0.001) and Babesia spp. (P = 0.002), and in wild canids for CPV (P \ 0.001). We report for the first time evidence of exposure to canine coronavirus in wild hoary foxes, and Platynossomun sp. infection in wild maned wolves. Maned wolves are more exposed to helminths than crab-eating foxes, with a higher prevalence of Trichuridae and Ancylostomidae in the area. The most common ectoparasites were Amblyomma cajennense, A. tigrinum, and Pulex irritans. Such data is useful information on infectious diseases of Brazilian wild canids, revealing pathogens as a threat to wild canids in the area. Control measures are discussed.

Gastrointestinal parasites of maned wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus, Illiger 1815) in a suburban area in southeastern Brazil

“…It seems, therefore, that C. brachyurus is not being affected by a different parasite set from those already identified in studies carried out in less disturbed areas, reinforcing the high plasticity of the species and its parasites to human impacts (Santos et al, 2003;Massara et al, 2012). Other explanation lies in the fact that both protected and unprotected areas in southeastern Brazil holds abundant populations of dogs Massara et al, 2012), and the same patterns of transmission from dogs should warrant the presence of parasite communities similar to those from protected (Curi et al, 2010(Curi et al, , 2012) and suburban areas. However, it is important to note that this study did not assess the infestation degree or the number of each parasite taxon in the fecal samples.…”

“…However, it is not easy to know whether parasitic infections represent a great harm to this species in Brazil, since few studies involving gastrointestinal parasites of C. brachyurus have been performed in nature (Dietz, 1984;Mattos et al, 2005;Braga et al, 2010;Curi et al, 2010Curi et al, , 2012Santos et al, 2012). It is also worth noting that these studies were performed in officially protected areas of the Brazilian savanna (Cerrado), the typical habitat of this species.…”

Mammals in forest remnants of an ecotonal Atlantic Forest-Cerrado area from southeastern Brazil

“…The negative effects of feral dogs and cats on the biodiversity has already been studied and there are indications that their introduction in natural environments is potentially harmful for the conservation of native wildlife, not only due to predation of native fauna, but also because they may lead to the spread of diseases (Curi et al, 2010;Loss et al, 2013).…”

Adenoviruses of canine and human origins in stool samples from free-living pampas foxes (<italic>Lycalopex gymnocercus</italic>) and crab-eating foxes (<italic>Cerdocyon thous</italic>) in São Francisco de Paula, Rio dos Sinos basin

“…Adenoviruses and other canine viruses are found infecting domestic dogs in the state of Rio Grande do Sul (Dezengrini et al, 2007). There is also serological evidence for infection by CAV on Brazilian maned wolves (de Almeida Curi et al, 2010). HAdV is ubiquitous in human populations (Eick et al, 2011;Ersching et al, 2010), as well as the virus often being found in environmental samples contaminated by human feces (Miagostovich et al, 2008;Silva et al, 2011;Wolf et al, 2010).…”

“…Data on the mortality of neotropical wildlife and their possible causes are still poorly assessed, possibly because of the difficulty in conducting longitudinal studies, considering the high cost and time needed for such purpose (Curi et al, 2010;Deem e Emmons, 2005). Especially for the pampas and crab-eating foxes, the literature is scarce, and there are only a few reports of the presence of viral and parasitic infections (Fiorello et al, 2007;Giannitti et al, 2012;Majláthová et al, 2007).…”