Vector-Borne Disease in Wild Mammals Impacted by Urban Expansion and Climate Change

AbstractEcologies of zoonotic vector-borne diseases may shift with climate and land use change. As many urban-adapted mammals can host ectoparasites and pathogens of human and animal health concern, our goal was to compare patterns of arthropod-borne disease among medium-sized mammals across gradients of rural to urban landscapes in multiple regions of California. DNA ofAnaplasma phagocytophilum was found in 1 –5% of raccoons, coyotes, and San Joaquin kit foxes;Borrelia burgdorferi in one coyote, rickettsiae in two desert kit foxes, andYersinia pestis in two coyotes. There was serological evidence of rickettsiae in 14 –37% of coyotes, Virginia opossums, and foxes; andA. phagocytophilum in 6 –40% of coyotes, raccoons, Virginia opossums, and foxes. Of six flea species, oneCtenocephalides felis from a raccoon was positive forY. pestis, andCt. felis andPulex simulans fleas tested positive forRickettsia felis andR. senegalensis. ADermacentor similis tick off a San Joaquin kit fox was PCR-positive forA. phagocytophilum. There were three statistically significant risk factors: risk ofA. phagocytophilum PCR-positivity was threefold greater in fall vs the other three seasons; hosts adjacent to urban areas had sevenfold increasedA. phagocytophilum seropositivity compared with urban and rural areas; and there was a significant spatial cluster of rickettsiae within greater Los Angeles. Animals in areas where urban and rural habitats interconnect can serve as sentinels during times ...
Source: EcoHealth - Category: Environmental Health Source Type: research