Saiga antelope (Saiga tatarica tatarica) mortality in Kazakhstan 2015: emergency investigation of disease outbreak to improve knowledge of drivers

2015 年哈萨克斯坦赛加羚羊 (Saiga tatarica tatarica) 死亡率：对疾病爆发进行紧急调查，以提高驾驶员的知识

• 批准号: NE/N007646/1
• 负责人: Richard Kock
• 金额: $ 6.6万
• 依托单位: Royal Veterinary College
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2015 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=NE%2FN007646%2F1
• 关键词: Saiga; antelope; tatarica; mortality; Kazakhstan

Catastrophic disease events can be devastating for the survival of threatened species, and can reverse years of conservation effort. When populations are already small and vulnerable, due to poaching or habitat loss, disease can be the final straw. Examples of disease as a conservation issue include the Ethiopian wolf, which is susceptible to distemper and rabies from domestic dogs, and rinderpest, which decimated the wild and domestic ungulate populations of Africa in the 19th century. Recently it has been recognised that disease is best understood and tackled in a wider context than just the individual species of host and pathogen; resilient ecosystems are better able to accommodate disease outbreaks, and human-caused environmental change can make species more vulnerable.The saiga antelope is a migratory ungulate which gathers to give birth in large aggregations. It is critically endangered due to a >95% decline in population size over <10 years due to poaching for its horns and meat. However one population (Betpak-dala) has recovered well, to about 250,000 individuals in April 2015. Mass die-offs from disease occur regularly in this species, but the causes and contributing factors have never been properly investigated. In May 2015, 120,000 saigas died within a few days in the Betpak-dala population, about half this population, and >1/3 of the global population. For the first time, a rapid response team was able to attend and collect samples from the affected saigas and their environment. Initial observations suggest that the deaths were a result of a complex interaction between particular environmental conditions (wet weather, lush grass) and the weakness of females which had just given birth, causing pathogens which were present but latent within the saigas to take hold. This is not the whole story, however, which may also include toxins in plants or water, an insect-carried disease, or a directly-transmitted virus.In this project, we will analyse the already-collected samples to diagnose the causes of and contributing factors to this mass die-off. We will run an urgent mission to the field, to collect supplementary information which will help us to home in on the triggers for this disease. We will visit both affected and unaffected areas, to understand what the differences are. We will talk to local herders, and get weather records for the days leading up to the deaths. Next, we will compile everything we know about this outbreak, and about previous outbreaks (recent and historical, in saigas and similar species), to get an overall picture of the pattern of events and environmental conditions which leads to mass saiga deaths. Combining this understanding with projections of future environmental conditions (e.g. climate change) and emerging infectious diseases (e.g. peste des petits ruminants, which is entering Central Asia from Africa), we will explore scenarios of risk from a range of diseases to both saigas and livestock, and how risks could be mitigated (e.g. through vaccination or changes in land use practices).Having assembled this evidence, we will help the Government of Kazakhstan to prepare for future disease outbreaks; we will design surveillance protocols so they can have early warning of potential triggers for mortality, and help them to examine whether, and which, interventions might reduce the risk of outbreaks, or mitigate them. We will run a technical workshop at the upcoming meeting of the UN Convention on Migratory Species' Memorandum of Understanding on saiga conservation, and support signatories (governments and NGOs) to develop and ratify an action plan.This project is a unique chance to investigate a dramatic and complex disease event of huge conservation importance, which will also shed light on the relationship between environmental change and disease. This makes it of wide general interest for ecologists, and an opportunity which it is vital to take while there is still time to act.

灾难性的疾病事件对受威胁物种的生存可能是毁灭性的，并可能使多年的保护努力付诸东流。由于偷猎或栖息地丧失，当种群数量已经很小且脆弱时，疾病可能成为压垮它们的最后一根稻草。疾病作为保护问题的例子包括埃塞俄比亚狼，它容易感染来自家养狗的犬瘟热和狂犬病，以及牛瘟，牛瘟在19世纪使非洲的野生和家养有蹄类动物数量大量减少。最近，人们已经认识到，在更广泛的背景下，最好理解和解决疾病，而不仅仅是单个物种的宿主和病原体；有弹性的生态系统能够更好地适应疾病暴发，而人类造成的环境变化可能使物种更加脆弱。赛加羚羊是一种迁徙的有蹄类动物，它们聚集在一起生育。由于偷猎其角和肉，它的数量在10年内下降了95%，因此处于极度濒危状态。然而，一个种群（Betpak-dala）恢复得很好，到2015年4月约有25万只。该物种经常发生因疾病导致的大规模死亡，但其原因和促成因素从未得到适当调查。2015年5月，Betpak-dala的12万只赛加羚羊在几天内死亡，约占总数的一半，占全球总数的1/3。这是第一次，一个快速反应小组能够参加并从受影响的羚羊及其环境中收集样本。初步观察表明，这些死亡是特殊环境条件（潮湿的天气、茂密的草地）和刚刚分娩的雌羚羊身体虚弱之间复杂相互作用的结果，导致存在但潜伏在赛加羚羊体内的病原体占据了位置。然而，这并不是故事的全部，还可能包括植物或水中的毒素、昆虫携带的疾病或直接传播的病毒。在这个项目中，我们将分析已经收集到的样本，以诊断这种大规模死亡的原因和促成因素。我们将执行一项紧急任务，前往实地收集补充信息，帮助我们查明这种疾病的触发因素。我们将走访受影响和未受影响的地区，了解其中的区别。我们会和当地牧民谈谈，拿到死亡前几天的天气记录。接下来，我们将汇编我们所知道的关于这次疫情以及以前（在赛加羚羊和类似物种中最近和历史上）疫情的一切信息，以全面了解导致赛加羚羊大规模死亡的事件模式和环境条件。结合对未来环境条件（如气候变化）和新出现的传染病（如从非洲进入中亚的小反刍兽疫）的预测，我们将探讨一系列疾病给羚羊和牲畜带来风险的情景，以及如何减轻风险（如通过接种疫苗或改变土地利用做法）。在收集了这些证据之后，我们将帮助哈萨克斯坦政府为今后的疾病暴发做好准备；我们将设计监测方案，使它们能够对潜在的死亡诱因进行早期预警，并帮助它们检查干预措施是否以及哪些干预措施可能降低或减轻暴发风险。我们将在即将召开的《联合国迁徙物种公约》关于赛加羚羊保护的谅解备忘录会议上举办一个技术研讨会，并支持签署国（政府和非政府组织）制定和批准一项行动计划。这个项目是一个独特的机会来调查一个具有巨大保护意义的戏剧性和复杂的疾病事件，这也将揭示环境变化与疾病之间的关系。这使它成为生态学家普遍关心的问题，而且在仍有时间采取行动时抓住这个机会至关重要。

项目成果

Molecular epidemiology of peste des petits ruminants virus emergence in critically endangered Mongolian saiga antelope and other wild ungulates.

• DOI: 10.1093/ve/veab062
• 发表时间: 2021
• 期刊: Virus evolution
• 影响因子: 5.3
• 作者: Benfield CTO;Hill S;Shatar M;Shiilegdamba E;Damdinjav B;Fine A;Willett B;Kock R;Bataille A
• 通讯作者: Bataille A

Characterisation of peste des petits ruminants disease in pastoralist small ruminant flocks in Ngorongoro District of northern Tanzania: variation in clinical syndromes and local diseases names, and bluetongue virus co-infection

坦桑尼亚北部恩戈罗恩戈罗地区牧民小反刍兽群小反刍兽疫的特征：临床症状和当地疾病名称的变化以及蓝舌病病毒的共同感染

• 发表时间: 2020
• 期刊: Viruses
• 作者: B A Jones

Peste des Petits Ruminants at the Wildlife-Livestock Interface in the Western Albertine Rift and Nile Basin, East Africa

东非阿尔伯丁裂谷西部和尼罗河盆地野生动物与牲畜交汇处的小反刍兽疫

• 发表时间: 2020
• 期刊: Viruses
• 作者: Aguilar X F

"PESTE DES PETITS RUMINANTS" RESEARCH COMMUNICATION

“小反刍兽疫”研究交流

• 发表时间: 2021
• 作者: D Mdetele;R Kock
• 通讯作者: R Kock