DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Pathogen transmission in wild and domestic ungulates: Quantifying risk and identifying transmission routes among cattle and wildlife in central Kenya

论文研究：野生和家养有蹄类动物的病原体传播：量化风险并确定肯尼亚中部牛和野生动物之间的传播途径

• 批准号: 1209338
• 负责人: Lynne Isbell
• 金额: $ 1.5万
• 依托单位: University of California-Davis
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-07-01 至 2014-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1209338&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: DISSERTATION; RESEARCH; Pathogen; transmission; wild

Wildlife diseases are a recognized conservation threat and public health concern, yet there is remarkably little information on how diseases spread through wildlife populations. In this study, microbial genetics and network analysis are integrated to assess routes of (I) intraspecific pathogen transmission in reticulated giraffe, and (II) interspecific transmission between wild and domestic herbivores (black rhinoceros, Grevy's zebra, giraffe, impala, buffalo, and cattle) in Kenya. Our understanding of the dynamics of pathogen transmission is limited because it is difficult to assess who transmitted to whom. This project uses Escherichia coli as a proxy for pathogen transmission. Transmission between two individuals can be inferred if they share genetically similar subtypes of E. coli. Inferred transmission will be used to construct a transmission network for wildlife and livestock in Kenya. The first component of this project investigates how the spatial and social organization of the giraffe population influences transmission dynamics. The second component quantifies the extent and directionality of interspecific transmission and identifies species that contribute disproportionately to pathogen spread, termed "super-spreaders." Two of the species included in this study, the Grevy?s zebra and black rhinoceros, are endangered and vulnerable to disease-related population declines, which gives this study immediate conservation relevance. Broader impacts. Although not usually pathogenic, E. coli transmission routes demonstrate where contact is sufficient for transmission to occur. Knowledge of these routes can be incorporated into disease control strategies. Targeted vaccination of super-spreaders is theoretically more effective at limiting disease than conventional vaccination strategies, but there are no existing methods to identify super-spreaders in wild populations. A major outcome of this project will be to develop new tools for identifying super-spreaders and tracing transmission routes in wildlife. This is a novel approach and will be broadly applicable in improving our ability to predict the impacts of disease.

野生动物疾病是公认的保护威胁和公共卫生问题，但关于疾病如何通过野生动物种群传播的信息非常少。在这项研究中，微生物遗传学和网络分析的集成，以评估（I）种内病原体在网状长颈鹿的传播途径，和（II）种间传播野生和国内草食动物（黑犀牛，Grevy的斑马，长颈鹿，黑斑羚，布法罗，和牛）在肯尼亚。我们对病原体传播动力学的理解是有限的，因为很难评估谁传播给谁。该项目使用大肠杆菌作为病原体传播的代理。两个人之间的传播可以推断，如果他们共享遗传相似的E亚型。杆菌 推断的传播将用于在肯尼亚为野生动物和牲畜建立一个传播网络。该项目的第一部分调查长颈鹿种群的空间和社会组织如何影响传播动态。第二部分量化了种间传播的程度和方向，并确定了对病原体传播贡献不成比例的物种，称为“超级传播者”。“这项研究中包括的两个物种，格雷维？的斑马和黑犀牛，濒临灭绝，容易受到疾病相关的人口下降，这使这项研究立即保护相关性。 更广泛的影响。虽然通常不是致病性的，E.大肠杆菌的传播途径表明接触足以发生传播。这些途径的知识可以纳入疾病控制战略。从理论上讲，超级传播者的靶向疫苗接种在限制疾病方面比传统的疫苗接种策略更有效，但目前还没有方法来识别野生人群中的超级传播者。该项目的一个主要成果将是开发新的工具，用于识别超级传播者和追踪野生动物中的传播路线。这是一种新的方法，将广泛适用于提高我们预测疾病影响的能力。