Animal Sciences Commons^™

Validation Of A Nutria (Myocastor Coypus) Environmental Dna Assay Highlights Considerations For Sampling Methodology, Anna M. Mangan, John A. Kronenberger, Ian H. Plummer

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Nutria (Myocastor coypus) is a semiaquatic rodent species that is invasive across multiple regions within the United States. Here, we evaluated a qPCR assay previously described for use in Japan for application across invasive populations in the United States. We also compared two environmental DNA sampling methodologies for this assay: field filtration of large volumes of water passed through filters versus direct sampling of small volumes of water. We validated assay specificity, generality, and sensitivity, compared assay performance between two independent laboratories, and successfully tested the assay in situ on a known wild population. The filtration method required …

Writing Statistical Methods For Ecologists, Amy J. Davis, Shannon Kay

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The Methods section is a key component of any ecology research publication containing detailed information on how the data were collected and analyzed. However, descriptions of which statistical methods were used and how they were applied can substantially vary and may not provide enough information for the analyses to be reproducible. Computational and statistical programming advances have allowed ecological researchers without a strong statistical or mathematical background to access and use increasingly complex statistical methods. Thus, statistical methods are written by and need to be accessible to researchers across a range of quantitative expertise. Poorly written Methods sections can incorrectly …

Invasive Frogs Show Persistent Physiological Differences To Elevation And Acclimate To Colder Temperatures, Jack R. Marchetti, Karen H. Beard, Emily E. Virgin, Erin L. Lewis, Steven C. Hess, Kwanho C. Ki, Layne O. Sermersheim, Adriana P. Furtado, Susannah S. French

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The coqui frog (Eleutherodactylus coqui) was introduced to the island of Hawai’i in the 1980s and has spread across much of the island. Concern remains that this frog will continue to expand its range and invade higher elevation habitats where much of the island’s endemic species are found. We determined whether coqui thermal tolerance and physiology change along Hawai’i’s elevational gradients. We measured physiological responses using a short-term experiment to determine baseline tolerance and physiology by elevation, and a long-term experiment to determine the coqui’s ability to acclimate to different temperatures. We collected frogs from low, medium, and high elevations. …

Integrating Robotics Into Wildlife Conservation: Testing Improvements To Predator Deterrents Through Movement, Stewart W. Breck, Jeffrey T. Schultz, David Prause, Cameron Krebs, Anthony J. Giordano, Byron Boots

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Background Agricultural and pastoral landscapes can provide important habitat for wildlife conservation, but sharing these landscapes with wildlife can create conflict that is costly and requires managing. Livestock predation is a good example of the challenges involving coexistence with wildlife across shared landscapes. Integrating new technology into agricultural practices could help minimize human-wildlife conflict. In this study, we used concepts from the fields of robotics (i.e., automated movement and adaptiveness) and agricultural practices (i.e., managing livestock risk to predation) to explore how integration of these concepts could aid the development of more effective predator deterrents.

Methods …

Effects Of Corn Supplementation On Serum And Muscle Microrna Profiles In Horses, Clarissa Carver, Jason E. Bruemmer, Stephen Coleman, Gabriele Landolt, Tanja Hess

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Laminitis associated with equine metabolic syndrome causes significant economic losses in the equine industry. Diets high in non-structural carbohydrates (NSC) have been linked to insulin resistance and laminitis in horses. Nutrigenomic studies analyzing the interaction of diets high in NSCs and gene expression regulating endogenous microRNAs (miRNA) are rare. This study's objectives were to determine whether miRNAs from dietary corn can be detected in equine serum and muscle and its impacts on endogenous miRNA. Twelve mares were blocked by age, body condition score, and weight and assigned to a control (mixed legume grass hay diet) and a mixed legume hay …

Determination Of Residue Levels Of Rodenticide In Rodent Livers Offered Novel Diphacinone Baits By Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry, David A. Goldade, Shane Siers, Steven C. Hess, Robert T. Sugihara, Craig A. Riekena

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

A specific and sensitive liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method was developed and validated for the determination of the anticoagulant rodenticide diphacinone (DPN) in mouse and rat liver. Tissue samples were extracted with a mixture of water and acetonitrile containing ammonium hydroxide. The extracted sample was cleaned up with a combination of liquid-liquid partitioning and dispersive solid phase extraction. Chromatographic separation was achieved using a Waters X-Bridge BEH C-18 LC column (50 mm, 2.1 mm ID, 2.5 μm particle size) with detection on a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer in multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode. The monitored transition for DPN was m/z …

Outbreak Of Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease In Captive Reindeer (Rangifer Tarandus), Emma H. Torii, Arno Wünschmann, Mia Kim Torchetti, Leo Koster, Albert Van Geelen, Randy Atchison, Anne Rivas

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

In September 2020, an outbreak of epizootic hemorrhagic disease occurred in captive reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) and was associated with neurological signs and mortality. Four reindeer died or were euthanized after acute illness over a 12-day period. Affected reindeer displayed abnormal behavior, neurologic signs, lethargy, and/or lameness. The most consistent gross finding was dark red streaks throughout the adrenal gland cortices (4/4). One animal had acute hemorrhage involving the subcutis and skeletal muscles over the ventrolateral body wall and back, and abomasal serosa. Histologically, the most common lesions were adrenal gland cortical hemorrhage (4/4) with necrosis (3/4) and lymphoplasmacytic meningoencephalitis with …

Interspecific Oral Rabies Vaccine Bait Competition In The Southeast United States, Wesley C. Dixon, Jacob E. Hill, Richard Chipman, Amy J. Davis, Amy Gilbert, James C. Beasley, Olin E. Rhodes Jr., Guha Dharmarajan

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The United States Department of Agriculture’s National Rabies Management Program (NRMP) has coordinated the use of oral rabies vaccination (ORV) to control the spread of raccoon rabies virus variant west of the Appalachian Mountains since 1997. Working with state and local partners, the NRMP deploys ORV baits containing a rabies vaccine, primarily targeting raccoon populations (Procyon lotor). Bait competition between raccoons and non-target species may limit the effectiveness of ORV programs, but the extent of bait competition remains poorly quantified, particularly in the southeastern United States. We placed placebo ORV baits in bottomland hardwood (n = 637 baits) and upland …

Tourism‑Supported Working Lands Sustain A Growing Jaguar Population In The Colombian Llanos, Matthew Hyde, Esteban Payán, Jorge Barragan, Diana Stasiukynas, Sanmantha Rincón, William L. Kendall, Jerónimo Rodríguez, Kevin R. Crooks, Stewart W. Breck, Valerie Boron

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Understanding large carnivore demography on human-dominated lands is a priority to inform conservation strategies, yet few studies examine long-term trends. Jaguars (Panthera onca) are one such species whose population trends and survival rates remain unknown across working lands. We integrated nine years of camera trap data and tourist photos to estimate jaguar density, survival, abundance, and probability of tourist sightings on a working ranch and tourism destination in Colombia. We found that abundance increased from five individuals in 2014 to 28 in 2022, and density increased from 1.88 ± 0.87 per 100 km² in 2014 to 3.80 …

Long Term Changes In Aquaculture Influence Migration, Regional Abundance, And Distribution Of An Avian Species, Paul C. Burr, Brian S. Dorr, Jimmy L. Avery, Garrett M. Street, Bronson K. Strickland

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Agricultural development has been causing changes to the environment and the abundance and distribution of avian species. Agriculture is dynamic with changes in products occurring at large scales over relatively short time periods. The catfish aquaculture industry is one such agriculture industry that has undergone dramatic changes over the last 25 years. The double-crested cormorant (Nannopterum auritum) is a piscivorous bird that has an extensive history with the aquaculture industry of Mississippi due to its depredation of cultured catfish. A large-scale monitoring program began in 1989 to estimate the abundance and location of cormorants at every known roost in the …

A Social Network Analysis Of Actors Involved In Wild Pig (Sus Scrofa) Management In Missouri, Hailey E. Ellis, Meredith J. Grady, Lauren Jaebker, Alan D. Bright, Keith M. Carlisle

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Wild pigs (Sus scrofa) cause significant damage to agriculture and native ecosystems and can transmit diseases to animals and people. Management responses designed to reduce population numbers are needed to mitigate these threats. Identifying networks of key actors, including the ways in which they interact, is valuable for purposes of better understanding opportunities or constraints that generate or impede effective management responses. The goal of our study was to understand the network of organizations, and the personnel working within them, that were active in wild pig management, research, or policy initiatives in Missouri during 2018–2020 by 1) identifying …

Assessment Of Habitat‐Specific Competition For Oral Rabies Vaccine Baits Between Raccoons And Opossums, James L. Helton, Jacob E. Hill, David A. Bernasconi, Wesley C. Dixon, Richard B. Chipman, Amy Gilbert, James C. Beasley, Guha Dharmarajan, Olin E. Rhodes Jr.

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Throughout the eastern United States, the National Rabies Management Program (NRMP) distributes oral rabies vaccine (ORV) baits to manage rabies virus circulation in raccoon (Procyon lotor) populations. The consumption of vaccine baits by non‐target species including Virginia opossums (Didelphis virginiana) may reduce the effectiveness of ORV programs, but competition for baits remains poorly quantified in many areas of the southeastern United States. We distributed placebo ORV baits injected with a biomarker across 4 land cover types (bottomland hardwood, upland pine, riparian, isolated wetland) on the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, USA, 2017–2019. We then trapped …

An Ode To Owls: Review Of What An Owl Knows: The New Science Of The World’S Most Enigmatic Birds By Jennifer Ackerman, Alan B. Franklin

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Owls are mysterious creatures, mainly because we humans hardly ever encounter them. They are mostly nocturnal, are silent in their flight, and tend to unnerve us with their ghostly and sometimes quavering vocalizations. There have been numerous books on the natural history of owls written for nonexperts, but Jennifer Ackerman’s What an Owl Knows takes a novel tack, blending natural history and scientific discovery with a discussion of recent technological innovations. The result is a fascinating read on how scientists are beginning to better understand the lives and ecology of these secretive and rarely visible birds.

The book’s nine chapters …

Intracellular Diversity Of Wnv Within Circulating Avian Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells Reveals Host-Dependent Patterns Of Polyinfection, Dalit Talmi-Frank, Alex D. Byas, Reyes Murrieta, James Weger-Lucarelli, Claudia Rückert, Emily N. Gallichotte, Janna A. Yoshimoto, Chris Allen, Angela M. Bosco-Lauth, Barbara Graham, Todd A. Felix, Aaron C. Brault, Gregory D. Ebel

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Arthropod-borne virus (arbovirus) populations exist as mutant swarms that are maintained between arthropods and vertebrates. West Nile virus (WNV) population dynamics are host-dependent. In American crows, purifying selection is weak and population diversity is high compared to American robins, which have 100- to 1000-fold lower viremia. WNV passed in robins leads to fitness gains, whereas that passed in crows does not. Therefore, we tested the hypothesis that high crow viremia allows for higher genetic diversity within individual avian peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), reasoning that this could have produced the previously observed hostspecific differences in genetic diversity and fitness. Specifically, …

Texas Hunters' Attitudes Toward Wild Pigs (Sus Scrofa) And Their Management: An Applied Approach For Wildlife Managers, Lauren M. Jaebker, Alan D. Bright, Hailey E. Ellis, John M. Tomeček, Maureen G. Frank, Rachel L. Connally, Stephanie A. Shwiff, Keith M. Carlisle

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Choosing and executing a wild pig management strategy is often a considerable challenge for wildlife managers due to the wide variety of potential strategies and stakeholder preferences. Our research aims to understand management preferences for and tolerance of wild pigs among Texas resident hunters within 8 managerial districts of Texas. We applied the Potential for Conflict Index (PCI2) to estimate potential management preference conflicts within each district. From 24,201 questionnaires completed in 2019, we found that, on average, 74% of respondents across all management actions in each district were found to be acceptable. Resident respondents were overall intolerant of wild …

Spatially Structured Brown-Headed Cowbird Control Measures And Their Effects On Kirtland’S Warbler Long-Term Population Sustainability, Eric A. Margenau, Nathan W. Cooper, Donald J. Brown, Deahn M. Donner, Peter P. Marra, Pat Ryan

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Context: Brown-headed cowbirds (Molothrus ater), through brood parasitism, can exert extrinsic population growth pressures on North American songbirds. Cowbird removal programs may reduce parasitism rates on host species but can be expensive and difficult to implement throughout a host species’ breeding range.

Aim: We estimated cowbird abundance and nest parasitism rates within Kirtland’s warbler (Setophaga kirtlandii) primary breeding range in Michigan, USA, and determined the maximum sustainable parasitism rate for Kirtland’s warblers under several spatially structured cowbird removal designs.

Methods: We conducted point counts to estimate cowbird abundance and monitored nests to quantify nest parasitism rates …

Movements And Resource Selection Of Wild Pigs Associated With Growth Stages Of Corn, Bethany A. Friesenhahn, Randall W. Deyoung, Michael J. Cherry, Humberto L. Perotto-Baldivieso, Kurt C. Vercauteren, Nathan P. Snow

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Wild pigs (Sus scrofa) are one of the most successful invasive species globally and are often implicated in agricultural damage. This damage is expected to increase as ranges of wild pigs expand, impacting the human food supply and increasing costs of food production. Our objective was to evaluate movement behaviors of wild pigs relative to resource availability and landscape features in an agriculture-dominated landscape, with a goal of informing management practices for reducing damage to corn. We monitored hourly movements of adult wild pigs relative to corn crops using GPS collars during the 2019 and 2020 growing seasons (Feb–Sept) in …

Range-Wide Sources Of Variation In Reproductive Rates Of Northern Spotted Owls, Jeremy T. Rockweit, Julianna M. Jenkins, James E. Hines, James D. Nichols, Katie M. Dugger, Alan B. Franklin, Peter C. Carlson, William L. Kendall, Damon B. Lesmeister, Christopher Mccafferty, Steven H. Ackers, L. Steven Andrews, Larissa L. Bailey, Jesse Burgher, Kenneth P. Burnham, Tara Chestnut, Mary M. Conner, Raymond J. Davis, Krista E. Dilione, Eric D. Forsman, Elizabeth M. Glenn, Scott A. Gremel, Keith A. Hamm, Dale R. Herter, J. Mark Higley, Rob B. Horn, David W. Lamphear, Trent L. Mcdonald, Janice A. Reid, Carl J. Schwarz, David C. Simon, Stan G. Sovern, James K. Swingle, J. David Wiens, Heather Wise, Charles B. Yackulic

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

We conducted a range-wide investigation of the dynamics of site-level reproductive rate of northern spotted owls using survey data from 11 study areas across the subspecies geographic range collected during 1993–2018. Our analytical approach accounted for imperfect detection of owl pairs and misclassification of successful reproduction (i.e., at least one young fledged) and contributed further insights into northern spotted owl population ecology and dynamics. Both nondetection and state misclassification were important, especially because factors affecting these sources of error also affected focal ecological parameters. Annual probabilities of site occupancy were greatest at sites with successful reproduction in the previous year …

Evaluation Of Roost Culling As A Management Strategy For Reducing Invasive Rose‑Ringed Parakeet (Psittacula Krameri) Populations, C. Janes Anderson, Leonard A. Brennan, William P. Bukoski, Steven C. Hess, Clayton D. Hilton, Aaron B. Shiels, Shane Siers, Bryan M. Kluever, Page E. Klug

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Rose-ringed parakeets (Psittacula krameri) are one of the most widespread invasive avian species worldwide. This species was introduced to the island of Kaua‘i, Hawai‘i, USA, in the 1960s. The rapidly increasing population has caused substantial economic losses in the agricultural and tourism industries. We evaluated the efficacy of a roost culling program conducted by an independent contractor from March 2020 to March 2021. We estimated island-wide minimum abundance was 10,512 parakeets in January 2020 and 7,372 in April 2021. Over 30 nights of culling at four roost sites, approximately 6,030 parakeets were removed via air rifles with 4,415 …

Demographic And Functional Responses Of Kit Foxes To Changes In Prey Abundance, Ashley E. Hodge, Eric M. Gese, Bryan M. Kluever

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Many carnivores exhibit demographic and functional responses to changes in prey abundance. Demographic responses often include changes in population size, litter size, and recruitment of young into the adult population. Functional feeding responses are commonly reported for many carnivore species. We investigated demographic and functional responses of kit foxes (Vulpes macrotis Merriam, 1888) to changes in prey abundance during 2010–2013 in western Utah, USA. Between 2010 and 2013, litter size averaged 3.9 (±1.4) pups/litter. Survival rates of kit fox pups were 0.07, 0.01, 0.46, and 0.16, respectively, and there was a correlation between pup survival rates and rodent abundance; …

Social Network Analysis Of White-Tailed Deer Scraping Behavior: Implications For Disease Transmission, Michael E. Egan, Kim M. Pepin, Justin Fischer, Scott R. Hygnstrom, Kurt C. Vercauteren, Guillaume Bastille-Rousseau

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Host contact structure affects pathogen transmission in host populations, but many measures of host contact do not distinguish contacts that are relevant to pathogen transmission from those that are not. Scrapes are sites for chemical communication by white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) during the breeding season and potential sites of transmission of prions, the causative agent of chronic wasting disease (CWD). Scrape-related behaviors vary in their probability of transmitting prions to or from the environment, suggesting that behavior be combined with contact structure to better reflect potential heterogeneity in prion transmission at scrapes. We recorded visits and behaviors by …

Defining County-Level Terrestrial Rabies Freedom Using The Us National Rabies Surveillance System: Surveillance Data Analysis, Amber Kunkel, Gabriella Veytsel, Sarah C. Bonaparte, Haillie Meek, Xiaoyue Ma, Amy J. Davis, Jesse Bonwitt, Ryan M. Wallace

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Background: Rabies is a deadly zoonotic disease with nearly 100% fatality rate. In the United States, rabies virus persists in wildlife reservoirs, with occasional spillover into humans and domestic animals. The distribution of reservoir hosts in US counties plays an important role in public health decision-making, including the recommendation of lifesaving postexposure prophylaxis upon suspected rabies exposures. Furthermore, in surveillance data, it is difficult to discern whether counties have no cases reported because rabies was not present or because counties have an unreported rabies presence. These epizootics are monitored by the National Rabies Surveillance System (NRSS), to which approximately 130 …

Comparison Of An Antioxidant Source And Antioxidant Plus Bcaa On Athletic Performance And Post Exercise Recovery Of Horses, Emily Kent, Stephen J. Coloman, Jason E. Bruemmer, Renan Regatieri Casagrande, Christine Levihn, Grace Romo, Kevin Herkelman, Tanja Hess

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Antioxidant supplementation decreases postexercise oxidative stress but could also decrease muscle pro- tein synthesis. This study compared the effects of three diets: low antioxidant (control, CON), high an- tioxidant (AO), and branched-chain amino acid high antioxidant (BCAO) supplementation on postexercise protein synthesis and oxidative stress. We hypothesized that supplementing antioxidants with branched- chain amino acids(BCAA) would reduce oxidative stress without hindering muscle protein synthesis. Eigh- teen mixed-breed polo horses (11 mares and 7 geldings, with age range between 5 and 18 years, were on CON diet for 30 days (from day -45 until day 0) and then were assigned to …

High Winds And Melting Sea Ice Trigger Landward Movement In A Polar Bear Population Of Concern, Annie Kellner, Todd C. Atwood, David C. Douglas, Stewart W. Breck, Colorado State University - Fort Collins

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Some animal species are responding to climate change by altering the timing of events like mating and migration. Such behavioral plasticity can be adaptive, but it is not always. Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) from the southern Beaufort Sea subpopulation have mostly remained on ice year-round, but as the climate warms and summer sea ice declines, a growing proportion of the subpopulation is summering ashore. The triggers of this novel behavior are not well understood. Our study uses a parametric time-to-event model to test whether biological and/or time-varying environmental variables thought to influence polar bear movement and habitat selection …

Space Use And Movements Of Southeastern Breeding Double-Crested Cormorants (Nannopterum Auritum) In The United States, Leah L.K. Moran, Brian S. Dorr, Katie C. Hanson-Dorr, R. J. Moore, Scott A. Rush

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Abstract: Seasonal movements of Double-crested Cormorants (Nannopterum auritum) have been studied at breeding and wintering sites in the southeastern United States, but little information exists on the movements of these birds within and from their southern breeding sites in lacustrine systems. Since 2001, cormorants have established nesting colonies on islands in Guntersville Reservoir in Alabama, USA. Following the movements of tagged cormorants using satellite telemetry, we found that the mean home range during the 2017 breeding season (May–August) was 41.76 km², with a core use area of 6.36 km². The mean home range used …

Behavior Of Wild Pigs Toward Conspecific Carcasses: Implications For Disease Transmission In A Hot, Semiarid Climate, Samantha Leivers, Tyler Campbell, Michael J. Bodenchuk, John Tomeĉek

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Wild pigs (Sus scrofa) are a prolific, invasive species in the United States of America and act as vectors for many pathogens. An emerging pathogen of concern to the USA is African swine fever (ASF), a deadly viral disease affecting swine that is endemic to Africa and has spread to parts of Europe, Asia, and the Caribbean. ASF affects both wild and domesticated pigs and can be transmitted via several avenues, including interactions between and consumption of dead pigs by their live conspecifics. As wild pigs are considered a serious threat in the transmission of ASF, understanding the …

Deriving Spatially Explicit Direct And Indirect Interaction Networks From Animal Movement Data, Anni Yang, Mark Q. Wilber, Kezia R. Manlove, Ryan S. Miller, Raoul Boughton, James Beasley, Joseph Northrup, Kurt C. Vercauteren, George Wittemyer, Kim Pepin

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Quantifying spatiotemporally explicit interactions within animal populations facilitates the understanding of social structure and its relationship with ecological processes. Data from animal tracking technologies (Global Positioning Systems [“GPS”]) can circumvent longstanding challenges in the estimation of spatiotemporally explicit interactions, but the discrete nature and coarse temporal resolution of data mean that ephemeral interactions that occur between consecutive GPS locations go undetected. Here, we developed a method to quantify individual and spatial patterns of interaction using continuous-time movement models (CTMMs) fit to GPS tracking data. We first applied CTMMs to infer the full movement trajectories at an arbitrarily fine temporal scale …

Disease Progression And Serological Assay Performance In Heritage Breed Pigs Following Brucella Suis Experimental Challenge As A Model For Naturally Infected Feral Swine, Vienna R. Brown, Ryan S. Miller, Courtney F. Bowden, Timothy J. Smyser, Nicholas A. Ledesma, Aim E. Hartwig, Paul Gordy, Aaron M. Anderson, Stephanie M. Porter, Kate Alexander, Zane Gouker, Tom Gidlewski, Richard A. Bowen, Angela M. Bosco-Lauth

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Invasive feral swine (Sus scrofa) are one of the most important wildlife species for disease surveillance in the United States, serving as a reservoir for various diseases of concern for the health of humans and domestic animals. Brucella suis, the causative agent of swine brucellosis, is one such pathogen carried and transmitted by feral swine. Serology assays are the preferred field diagnostic for B. suis infection, as whole blood can be readily collected and antibodies are highly stable. However, serological assays frequently have lower sensitivity and specificity, and few studies have validated serological assays for B. suis in feral swine. …

Evaluation Of The Effect Of Hydrated Lime On The Scavenging Of Feral Swine (Sus Scrofa) Carcasses And Implications For Managing Carcass-Based Transmission Of African Swine Fever Virus, Courtney F. Bowden, James Grinolds, Gregory Franckowiak, Loma Mccallister, Joe M. Halseth, Matthew Cleland, Travis Guerrant, Michael J. Bodenchuk, Robert Miknis, Michael C. Marlow, Vienna R. Brown

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

African swine fever (ASF) is a devastating hemorrhagic disease marked by extensive morbidity and mortality in infected swine. The recent global movement of African swine fever virus (ASFV) in domestic and wild swine (Sus scrofa) populations has initiated preparedness and response planning activities within many ASF-free countries. Within the US, feral swine are of utmost concern because they are susceptible to infection, are wide-spread, and are known to interact with domestic swine populations. African swine fever virus is particularly hardy and can remain viable in contaminated carcasses for weeks to months; therefore, carcass-based transmission plays an important role in the …

Raccoon Rabies Control And Elimination In The Northeastern Usa And Southern Québec, Canada, Amy J. Davis, Marianne Gagnier, Ariane Massé, Kathleen M. Nelson, Jordona D. Kirby, Ryan Wallace, Xiaoyue Ma, Christine Fehlner-Gardiner, Richard B. Chipman, Amy Gilbert

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Rabies virus (RABV) is a deadly zoonosis that circulates in wild carnivore populations in North America. Intensive management within the USA and Canada has been conducted to control the spread of the raccoon (Procyon lotor) variant of RABV and work towards elimination. We examined RABV occurrence across the northeastern USA and southeastern Québec, Canada during 2008–2018 using a multi-method, dynamic occupancy model. Using a 10 km× 10 km grid overlaid on the landscape, we examined the probability that a grid cell was occupied with RABV and relationships with management activities (oral rabies vaccination (ORV) and trap-vaccinate-release efforts), habitat, neighbour effects …