Emerging zoonoses in wildlife: understanding the ecology, transmission and impacts of Brucella and Erysipelothrix for conservation and food security

野生动物中新出现的人畜共患病：了解布鲁氏菌和丹毒丝菌的生态、传播和影响，以保护和粮食安全

• 批准号: NE/X002616/1
• 负责人: Taya Forde
• 金额: $ 79.93万
• 依托单位: University of Glasgow
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2022 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=NE%2FX002616%2F1
• 关键词: Emerging; zoonoses; wildlife; understanding; ecology

The Arctic is experiencing unprecedented climate change, resulting in multiple interconnected challenges for the wellbeing of northern communities. Among these is emergence of zoonotic diseases - those that affect both animals and people. Two important bacterial zoonoses have recently emerged in Inuit Nunangat: Erysipelothrix, a novel cause of widespread mortality for muskoxen, and Brucella, which has increased in prevalence in caribou and muskoxen. Together, these diseases pose serious risks to the sustainability of these wildlife species upon which communities depend. Moreover, they are a public health risk for those handling or consuming country foods. We aim to bring together Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit (IQ) and western knowledge to gain a better understanding of these emerging zoonoses and how they are impacted by climate change, and then use this knowledge to protect human health and inform wildlife management. Our main objectives are to 1) understand why these diseases have increased in caribou and muskoxen; 2) understand and predict what risk they pose to people and animals; and 3) develop mitigation strategies to protect human health and conserve wildlife for generations to come. We will use a multi-pronged approach, building on our team's long-standing Community-Based Wildlife Health Surveillance program in Nunavut and NWT. This program brings IQ together with hunter-based sampling and scientific discovery to monitor caribou and muskox health and provides a structural and collaborative foundation for the project. Training, capacity strengthening and knowledge exchange forms an integral part of our program. We will collect and mobilize IQ to better understand these diseases, with results informing research questions, methods, and predictive models for current climate change scenarios, as well as to identify important vulnerabilities that could be targeted for better risk mitigation. We will expand sampling efforts and use a combination of laboratory, bioinformatics and mathematical approaches that are informed by IQ to understand historical transmission patterns, potential reasons for emergence, climate and other environmental risk factors for exposure, and the impact of Brucella and Erysipelothrix on caribou and muskox populations and the Inuit communities who rely on them. Additionally, we will explore community needs and interests for rapid, in-community diagnostic testing for Brucella for improved food safety and increased confidence in country foods, and will develop and pilot a prototype of such a test. Every step of the research will be done through collaboration among Inuit, and UK and Canadian academic researchers, and involves skills training and employment within each community. Our research on emerging pathogens at the human/wildlife interface addresses the theme of Arctic ecosystems and their impact on Inuit communities and will 1) increase capacity at the community level to detect and respond to emerging infectious diseases in wildlife; 2) increase food security and safety through knowledge exchange and mitigative strategies; 3) generate data to promote the sustainability of muskox and caribou populations, on which local communities rely for subsistence, employment and economic opportunities; and 4) contribute to the translation and dissemination of Indigenous knowledge and its integration into research and management.

北极正在经历前所未有的气候变化，给北方社区的福祉带来多重相互关联的挑战。其中包括人畜共患疾病的出现-那些影响动物和人的疾病。因纽特努南加特最近出现了两种重要的细菌性人畜共患病：丹毒丝菌，一种导致麝牛广泛死亡的新原因，以及布鲁氏菌，在驯鹿和麝牛中的流行率增加。这些疾病合在一起，对社区赖以生存的这些野生物种的可持续性构成严重威胁。此外，它们对那些处理或消费乡村食品的人构成公共卫生风险。我们的目标是将因纽特人Qaujimajatuqangit（IQ）和西方知识结合起来，更好地了解这些新出现的人畜共患病以及它们如何受到气候变化的影响，然后利用这些知识保护人类健康并为野生动物管理提供信息。我们的主要目标是1）了解为什么这些疾病在驯鹿和麝牛中增加; 2）了解和预测它们对人类和动物构成的风险; 3）制定缓解策略，以保护人类健康和保护后代野生动物。我们将采用多管齐下的方法，建立在我们团队在努纳武特和西北地区长期开展的以社区为基础的野生动物健康监测计划的基础上。该计划将智商与基于猎人的采样和科学发现结合起来，以监测驯鹿和麝牛的健康状况，并为该项目提供结构和协作基础。培训、能力加强和知识交流是我们计划的一个组成部分。我们将收集和动员智商，以更好地了解这些疾病，其结果为当前气候变化情景的研究问题，方法和预测模型提供信息，并确定可用于更好地缓解风险的重要脆弱性。我们将扩大采样工作，并使用实验室，生物信息学和数学方法相结合，这些方法由IQ提供信息，以了解历史传播模式，出现的潜在原因，气候和其他环境风险因素，以及布鲁氏菌和丹毒丝菌对驯鹿和麝牛种群的影响，以及依赖它们的因纽特人社区。此外，我们将探讨社区对快速、社区内布鲁氏菌诊断检测的需求和兴趣，以改善食品安全，提高对乡村食品的信心，并将开发和试点这种检测的原型。研究的每一步都将通过因纽特人与英国和加拿大学术研究人员的合作完成，并涉及每个社区的技能培训和就业。我们对人类/野生动物界面新出现的病原体的研究涉及北极生态系统及其对因纽特人社区的影响这一主题，并将1）提高社区一级检测和应对野生动物中新出现的传染病的能力; 2）通过知识交流和缓解战略提高粮食安全和安全; 3）生成数据，以促进当地社区赖以生存、就业和经济机会的麝牛和驯鹿种群的可持续性; 4）促进土著知识的翻译和传播，并将其纳入研究和管理。