Veterinary Infectious Diseases Commons^™

A Method For Characterizing Disease Emergence Curves From Paired Pathogen Detection And Serology Data, Joshua Hewitt, Grete Wilson-Henjum, Derek T. Collins, Jourdan M. Ringenberg, Christopher A. Quintanal, Robert Pleszewski, Jeffrey C. Chandler, Thomas J. Deliberto, Kim M. Pepin

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

1. Wildlife disease surveillance programs and research studies track infection and identify risk factors for wild populations, humans and agriculture. Often, several types of samples are collected from individuals to provide more complete information about an animal's infection history. Methods that jointly analyse multiple data streams to study disease emergence and drivers of infection via epidemiological process models remain underdeveloped. Joint-analysis methods can more thoroughly analyse all available data, more precisely quantifying epidemic processes, outbreak status, and risks.

2. We contribute a paired data modelling approach that analyses multiple samples from individuals. We use ‘characterization maps’ to link paired data …

Susceptibilities And Viral Shedding Of Peridomestic Wildlife Infected With Clade 2.3.4.4b Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Virus (H5n1), J. Jeffrey Root, Stephanie M. Porter, Julianna B. Lenoch, Jeremy W. Ellis, Angela M. Bosco-Lauth

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

We tested the ability of six peridomestic wildlife species to replicate a highly pathogenic (HP) clade 2.3.4.4b AIV (H5N1) isolated in the United States during 2022. All tested species replicated and shed virus, at least to some degree. Of the six species evaluated (house sparrows (Passer domesticus), European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris), feral pigeons (Columba livia), striped skunks (Mephitis mephitis), Virginia opossums (Didelphis virginiana), and cottontails (Sylvilagus sp.)), striped skunks and Virginia opossums shed the highest viral titers of 106.3 PFU/mL and 105.0 PFU/mL, respectively. Overall, the results of this …

Torque Teno Sus Virus 1: A Potential Surrogate Pathogen To Study Pig-Transmitted Transboundary Animal Diseases, Xiaolong Li, Brandon M. Parker, Raoul K. Boughton, James C. Beasley, Timothy J. Smyser, James D. Austin, Kim M. Pepin, Ryan S. Miller, Kurt C. Vercauteren, Samantha M. Wisely

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Understanding the epidemiology and transmission dynamics of transboundary animal diseases (TADs) among wild pigs (Sus scrofa) will aid in preventing the introduction or containment of TADs among wild populations. Given the challenges associated with studying TADs in free-ranging populations, a surrogate pathogen system may predict how pathogens may circulate and be maintained within wild free-ranging swine populations, how they may spill over into domestic populations, and how management actions may impact transmission. We assessed the suitability of Torque teno sus virus 1 (TTSuV1) to serve as a surrogate pathogen for molecular epidemiological studies in wild pigs by investigating …

Common Grackle (Quiscalus Quiscula) Predation Of A Great Lakes Piping Plover (Charadrius Melodus) Nest And Its Conservation Implications, Jade R. Arneson, Dennis A. Peloquin, Thomas G. Prestby, Sarah P. Saunders

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Common grackle (Quiscalus quiscula) was observed consuming eggs from an exclosed (protected) Great Lakes piping plover (Charadrius melodus) nest in the lower bay of Green Bay, Lake Michigan in Wisconsin, USA during June 2023. The observation, captured by a trail camera, is the first photographic documentation of grackle predation in any of the three piping plover breeding populations. This behavior adds common grackle to the suite of egg predators and has critical implications for this shorebird species, particularly in the Great Lakes region where piping plover is listed as federally endangered and common grackles are relatively …

Discovery Of A Novel Invasive Rodent Species On Wake Atoll With A Desert Southwest Usa Origin, Antoinette J. Piaggio, Eric Lanners, Daniel R. Taylor, Aaron B. Shiels, Marjorie Matocq, John Eisemann

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Invasive species, particularly omnivorous rodents, have damaged island ecosystems around the world. The unique flora and fauna of island systems have typically not evolved with omnivorous rodents and are heavily impacted by their introduction. Wake Atoll of the southern Pacific Ocean is a 707-hectare coral island complex of three islands managed by the United States Department of Defense (DoD). DoD restricts civilian access to the atoll but aircraft and seacraft regularly visit the island to transport military equipment and to sustain the year-round military and contractor personnel stationed on the atoll. Wake Atoll had been invaded by Rattus rattus complex …

Trichinella Murrelli Identified In Red Foxes (Vulpes Vulpes) In Pennsylvania, Usa, Jitender Dubey, Peter C. Thompson, Larissa S. De Araujo, Aditya Gupta, Sasha Kay, Oliver C. H. Kwok, Jaquin Battle, Kyle R. Van Why, Justin D. Brown, Benjamin Rosenthal

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Trichinella infections have been eliminated from pork where pigs are raised in biosecure facilities, but wildlife infections persist. Trichinella murrelli is the primary zoonotic species in wild carnivores in the United States, having been identified in several species of omnivores and carnivores. Here, we document its occurrence in seven of 21 (33.3%) red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) from six counties in Pennsylvania. Encysted Trichinella juveniles were detected in muscle squashes (< 5 g samples) of all seven foxes, and in histological sections of the tongue and limb muscle of three. Juveniles from muscle squashes were pooled and tested in a multiplex PCR capable of differentiating all Trichinella species native to the USA; all samples contained only T. murrelli. This is the first identification of T. murrelli in red foxes from Pennsylvania, …

Heating Decoys To Mimic Thermal Signatures Of Live Animals For Drones, Landon R. Jones, Cerise Mensah, Jared S. Elmore, Kristine O. Evans, Morgan B. Pfeiffer, Brad F. Blackwell, Raymond B. Iglay

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Method name

Heating animal decoys to mimic thermal signatures for drones

Abstract

Thermal sensors mounted on drones (unoccupied aircraft systems) are popular and effective tools for monitoring cryptic animal species, although few studies have quantified sampling error of ani- mal counts from thermal images. Using decoys is one effective strategy to quantify bias and count accuracy; however, plastic decoys do not mimic thermal signatures of representative species. Our objective was to produce heat signatures in animal decoys to realistically match thermal images of live animals obtained from a drone-based sensor. We tested commercially available methods to heat plastic decoys of …

Competitive Behaviors Between Black Vultures (Coragyps Atratus) And Turkey Vultures (Cathartes Aura) During Scavenging / Comportamientos Competitivos Entre Coragyps Atratus Y Cathartes Aura Durante El Carroñeo, Amanda M. Herbert, Patrick A. Zollner, Landon R. Jones, Marian L. Wahl, Grant N. Burcham, Bryan M. Kluever, Lee A. Humberg, Brandon M. Quinby

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Abstract

Interference competition occurs when an individual prohibits another’s access to a resource through antagonistic interactions. Despite considerable research on scavenger interactions at carrion, the limited evidence for competitive interactions between black vultures (Coragyps atratus) and turkey vultures (Cathartes aura) relies upon the frequency of antagonistic interactions without considering other forms of competition. Using remote cameras, we recorded the duration of aggression, scavenging, and vigilance behaviors exhibited by individual black vultures and turkey vultures scavenging stillborn domestic cattle carcasses within flocks composed of one or both vulture species. We tested for differences of durations of each …

The Texas Feral Swine Eradication And Control Pilot Program, David R. Pipkin, Bruce R. Leland, Katherine Garwood, Linda Tschirhart-Hejl, Michael J. Bodenchuk, John M. Tomecek

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The United States Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (the 2018 Farm Bill) established the Feral Swine Eradication and Control Pilot Program. The program funded US$75M for 5 years, split evenly between the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), both programs within the United States Department of Agriculture. The agencies solicited joint programs from states with high densities of feral swine in two phases. In Texas, NRCS and APHIS submitted three multi-county project areas along watersheds for Phase I funding and one eradication effort along with two crop protection projects in Phase II. …

The Influence Of Social And Spatial Processes On The Epidemiology Of Environmentally Transmitted Pathogens In Wildlife: Implications For Management, Aakash Pandey, Chris Wojan, Abigail Feuka, Meggan E. Craft, Kezia Manlove, Kim M. Pepin

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Social and spatial structures of host populations play important roles in pathogen transmission. For environmentally transmitted pathogens, the host space use interacts with both the host social structure and the pathogen’s environmental persistence (which determines the timelag across which two hosts can transmit). Together, these factors shape the epidemiological dynamics of environmentally transmitted pathogens. While the importance of both social and spatial structures and environmental pathogen persistence has long been recognized in epidemiology, they are often considered separately. A better understanding of how these factors interact to determine disease dynamics is required for developing robust surveillance and management strategies. Here, …

Agricultural And Ecological Resources Safeguarded By The Prevention Of Wild Pig Population Expansion, Colin Jareb, Kim M. Pepin, Ryan S. Miller, Stephanie A. Shwiff, Sophie C. Mckee

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Wild pigs (Sus scrofa) are one of the most destructive invasive species in the United States, known for causing extensive damage to agricultural commodities, natural resources, and property, and for transmitting diseases to livestock. Following the establishment of the National Feral Swine Damage Management Program (NFSDMP) in 2014, the expansion of wild pig populations has been successfully slowed. This paper combines two modeling approaches across eight separate models to characterize the expansion of wild pig populations in the absence of intervention by the NFSDMP and forecasts the value of a subset of resources safeguarded from the threat of …

Surveillance Of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Virus In Wild Canids From Pennsylvania, Usa, Kevin D. Niedringhaus, Taylor C. Chan, Ashley Mcdowell, Lauren Mxwell, Madison Stevens, Lane Potts, Erica Miller, Eman Anis, Kyle Van Why, Thomas Keller, David Stallknecht, Rebecca L. Poulson, Kaitlyn Bahrs, Justin D. Brown

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The avian influenza virus is a global pathogen with significant health and economic implications. While primarily a pathogen of wild and domestic birds, recent outbreaks of the H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAIV) clade 2.3.4.4b have caused mortality in a wide variety of mammals, including members of the Canidae family, on multiple continents. Despite sporadic mortality events globally, the epidemiology and pathobiology of H5N1 HPAIV in wild canids remains poorly defined. During 2022–2024, 41 wild canid carcasses (diagnostic cases), including 23 red foxes and 18 gray foxes, were tested for the influenza A virus (IAV) via PCR, with five …

Rabies, Amy T. Gilbert, Christine Ellis

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Illustrated fact sheet on rabies.

Increased Coding Potential Of Bovine Herpesvirus 1, Victoria Jefferson

Theses and Dissertations

Bovine respiratory disease (BRD) costs the cattle industry millions of dollars in costs in treatment and loss every year in the United States. A significant pathogen often contributes to BRD is Bovine Herpesvirus 1 (BoHV-1), a double stranded DNA virus with the ability to establish latency in the trigeminal ganglia and neurons. Primary infection with BoHV-1 results in immunosuppression that increases the risk of secondary bacterial infection and pneumonia. Because herpesviruses infect their hosts for life and can be reactivated in times of stress, BoHV-1 can present a recurring risk of BRD. The following research aims to expand the knowledge …

Rapid Evolution Of A(H5n1) Influenza Viruses After Intercontinental Spread To North America, Ahmed Kandeil, Christopher Patton, Jeremy C. Jones, Trushar Jeevan, Walter N. Harrington, Sanja Trifkovic, Jon P. Seiler, Thomas Fabrizio, Karlie Woodard, Jasmine C. Turner, Jeri Carol Crumpton, Lance Miller, Adam Rubrum, Jennifer Debeauchamp, Charles J. Russell, Elena A. Govorkova, Peter Vogel, Mia Kim-Torchetti, Yohannes Berhane, David Stallknecht, Rebecca Poulson, Lisa Kercher, Richard J. Webby

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N1) viruses of clade 2.3.4.4b underwent an explosive geographic expansion in 2021 among wild birds and domestic poultry across Asia, Europe, and Africa. By the end of 2021, 2.3.4.4b viruses were detected in North America, signifying further intercontinental spread. Here we show that the western movement of clade 2.3.4.4b was quickly followed by reassortment with viruses circulating in wild birds in North America, resulting in the acquisition of different combinations of ribonucleoprotein genes. These reassortant A(H5N1) viruses are genotypically and phenotypically diverse, with many causing severe disease with dramatic neurologic involvement in mammals. The proclivity of …

The Developmental Process For Adenoviral Vectored Canine Influenza Vaccines, Nicholas Jeanjaquet

School of Biological Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Canine Influenza Virus (CIV) is a recently emerged branch of Influenza A virus that is highly infectious in dogs. The first strain was isolated in 2003, and it has quickly become endemic in areas with dense dog populations, most notably in Asia. The proximity of dogs to humans, along with their potential to serve as mixing vessels for reassortment, raises concern for possible zoonotic transmission and a potential human pandemic. Available vaccines are not frequently updated and struggle to prevent the spread of currently circulating strains. This highlights the need for a new and more effective vaccine. We outline the …

Analysis Of Mitochondrial Dna Sequence Data Demonstrates That Monophyly Of Myotis Occultus Is Complicated By Greater Sampling Of Myotis Lucifugus, Jeffrey M. Lorch, Daniel R. Taylor, Antoinette J. Piaggio

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Abstract

The validity of Myotis occultus as a species unique from Myotis lucifugus has been a source of debate. Most recently, many authorities treat M. occultus as a distinct species, at least in part because a previous study showed that M. occultus and M. l. carissima (the subspecies that occurs in closest geographic proximity to M. occultus) form separate monophyletic clades based on sequences of two mitochondrial genes (cytochrome-b [cytb] and cytochrome oxidase subunit II [COII]). We re-evaluated the phylogenetic relationship between M. occultus and M. lucifugus based on mitochondrial sequences …

Accelerated Evolution Of Sars-Cov-2 In Free-Ranging White-Tailed Deer, Dillon S. Mcbride, Sofya K. Garushyants, John Franks, Andrew F. Magee, Steven H. Overend, Devra Huey, Amanda M. Williams, Seth A. Faith, Ahmed Kandeil, Sanja Trifkovic, Lance Miller, Trushar Jeevan, Anami Patel, Jacqueline M. Nolting, Michael J. Tonkovich, J. Tyler Genders, Andrew J. Montoney, Kevin Kasnyik, Timothy J. Linder, Sarah N. Bevins, Julianna B. Lenoch, Jeffrey C. Chandler, Thomas J. Deliberto, Eugene V. Koonin, Marc A. Suchard, Philippe Lemey, Richard J. Webby, Martha I. Nelson, Andrew S. Bowman

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The zoonotic origin of the COVID-19 pandemic virus highlights the need to fill the vast gaps in our knowledge of SARS-CoV-2 ecology and evolution in non-human hosts. Here, we detected that SARS-CoV-2 was introduced from humans into white-tailed deer more than 30 times in Ohio, USA during November 2021-March 2022. Subsequently, deer-to-deer transmission persisted for 2–8 months, disseminating across hundreds of kilometers. Newly developed Bayesian phylogenetic methods quantified how SARS-CoV-2 evolution is not only three-times faster in white-tailed deer compared to the rate observed in humans but also driven by different mutational biases and selection pressures. The long-term effect of …

Pathogenicity In Chickens And Turkeys Of A 2021 United States H5n1 Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Clade 2.3.4.4b Wild Bird Virus Compared To Two Previous H5n8 Clade 2.3.4.4 Viruses, Mary J. Pantin-Jackwood, Erica Spackman, Christina Leyson, Sungsu Youk, Scott A. Lee, Linda M. Moon, Mia K. Torchetti, Mary L. Killian, Julianna B. Lenoch, Darrell R. Kapczynski, David E. Swayne, David L. Suarez

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses (HPAIVs) of subtype H5 of the Gs/GD/96 lineage remain a major threat to poultry due to endemicity in wild birds. H5N1 HPAIVs from this lineage were detected in 2021 in the United States (US) and since then have infected many wild and domestic birds. We evaluated the pathobiology of an early US H5N1 HPAIV (clade 2.3.4.4b, 2021) and two H5N8 HPAIVs from previous outbreaks in the US (clade 2.3.4.4c, 2014) and Europe (clade 2.3.4.4b, 2016) in chickens and turkeys. Differences in clinical signs, mean death times (MDTs), and virus transmissibility were found between chickens and …

Raccoon Spatial Ecology In The Rural Southeastern United States, Jacob E. Hill, Madison L. Miller, James L. Helton, Richard B. Chipman, Amy Gilbert, University Of Georgia, Guha Dharmarajan, Olin E. Rhodes Jr.

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The movement ecology of raccoons varies widely across habitats with important implications for the management of zoonotic diseases such as rabies. However, the spatial ecology of raccoons remains poorly understood in many regions of the United States, particularly in the southeast. To better understand the spatial ecology of raccoons in the southeastern United States, we investigated the role of sex, season, and habitat on monthly raccoon home range and core area sizes in three common rural habitats (bottomland hardwood, upland pine, and riparian forest) in South Carolina, USA. From 2018–2022, we obtained 264 monthly home ranges from 46 raccoons. Mean …

Raccoon Spatial Ecology In The Rural Southeastern United States, Jacob E. Hill, Madison L. Miller, James L. Helton, Richard B. Chipman, Amy T. Gilbert, James C. Beasley, Guha Dharmarajan, Olin E. Rhodes Jr.

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The movement ecology of raccoons varies widely across habitats with important implications for the management of zoonotic diseases such as rabies. However, the spatial ecology of raccoons remains poorly understood in many regions of the United States, particularly in the southeast. To better understand the spatial ecology of raccoons in the southeastern US, we investigated the role of sex, season, and habitat on monthly raccoon home range and core area sizes in three common rural habitats (bottomland hardwood, upland pine, and riparian forest) in South Carolina, USA. From 2018–2022, we obtained 264 monthly home ranges from 46 raccoons. Mean monthly …

Gene Variants In Bola-Dmb, Decr1, Fasn And Srebf1 Associated With Conceptus Death On Day 16 Of Pregnancy In Holstein Cows [Abstract], Carolina L. Gonzalez-Berrios, Courtney Bowden, Pablo J. Pinedo, Jeanette V. Bishop, Hana Van Campen, Thomas R. R. Hansen, Milton G. Thomas

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Investigating the influences of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) associated with conceptus death (CD) on day 16 of pregnancy could distinguish cows who have inferior value for fertility traits. We hypothesized that CD is associated with SNP genotypes that disrupt maternal recognition and lead to early pregnancy loss. RNA sequences from Holstein cow pregnancies (n = 15) with normal conceptuses (Norm) or CD were subjected to SNP discovery via Qiagen CLC Genomics Workbench. Selected SNP were based on previous fertility studies, differentially expressed genes within pregnancy development analyses and proximity to SNP associated with fertility traits in the Cattle QTL …

Skin Lipids Alone Enable Conspecific Tracking In An Invasive Reptile, The Argentine Black And White Tegu Lizard (Salvator Merianae), M. Rockwell Parker, Eric A. Tillman, Lauren A. Nazarian, Megan L. Barlowe, Julianna M. Lincoln, Bryan M. Kluever

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Locating potential mates in non-native habitats is one of the most important challenges faced by invasive vertebrate species. The Argentine black and white tegu lizard (Salvator merianae) is a major invasive reptile species in the contiguous United States and is rapidly expanding its range across Florida and the Southeast, in part due to inadequate management strategies and tools. Because a wide array of reptiles, especially squamates (snakes and lizards), have been well-studied for their reliance on chemical cues to locate conspecifics, our project aimed to isolate chemical cues from tegus and assess the ability of adult males and …

H5n1 Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Clade 2.3.4.4b In Wild And Domestic Birds: Introductions Into The United States And Reassortments, December 2021–April 2022, Sungsu Youk, Mia Kim Torchetti, Kristina Lantz, Julianna B. Lenoch, Mary Lea Killian, Christina Leyson, Sarah N. Bevins, Krista Dilione, Hon S. Ip, David E. Stallknecht, Rebecca L. Poulson, David L. Suarez, David E. Swayne, Mary J. Pantin-Jackwood

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses (HPAIVs) of the A/goose/Guangdong/1/1996 lineage H5 clade 2.3.4.4b continue to have a devastating effect on domestic and wild birds. Full genome sequence analyses using 1369 H5N1 HPAIVs detected in the United States (U.S.) in wild birds, commercial poultry, and backyard flocks from December 2021 to April 2022, showed three phylogenetically distinct H5N1 virus introductions in the U.S. by wild birds. Unreassorted Eurasian genotypes A1 and A2 entered the Northeast Atlantic states, whereas a genetically distinct A3 genotype was detected in Alaska. The A1 genotype spread westward via wild bird migration and reassorted with North American …

Limited Accumulation And Persistence Of An Influenza A Virus In Tadpole Snails (Physa Spp.), Paul T. Oesterle, J. Jeffrey Root, Darcy S.O. Mora, Heather Schneider, Alan B. Franklin, Kathryn P. Huyvaert

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Waterfowl infected with avian influenza A viruses (IAVs) shed infectious virus into aquatic environments, providing a mechanism for transmission among waterfowl, while also exposing the entire aquatic ecosystem to the virus. Aquatic invertebrates such as freshwater snails are likely exposed to IAVs in the water column and sediment. Freshwater snails comprise a significant portion of some waterfowl species’ diets, so this trophic interaction may serve as a novel route of IAV transmission. In these experiments, tadpole snails (Physa spp.) were exposed to a low-pathogenicity IAV (H3N8) to determine whether snails can accumulate the virus and, if so, how long virus …

Antiviral Susceptibility Of Clade 2.3.4.4b Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A(H5n1) Viruses Isolated From Birds And Mammals In The United States, 2022, Ha T. Nguyen, Anton Chesnokov, Juan De La Cruz, Philippe Noriel Q. Pascua, Vasiliy P. Mishin, Yunho Jang, Joyce Jones, Han Di, Andrei A. Ivashchenko, Mary Lea Killian, Mia K. Torchetti, Kristina Lantz, David E. Wentworth, Charles T. Davis, Alexandre V. Ivachtchenko, Larisa V. Gubareva

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Clade 2.3.4.4b highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) A(H5N1) viruses that are responsible for devastating outbreaks in birds and mammals pose a potential threat to public health. Here, we evaluated their susceptibility to influenza antivirals. Of 1,015 sequences of HPAI A(H5N1) viruses collected in the United States during 2022, eight viruses (∼0.8%) had a molecular marker of drug resistance to an FDA-approved antiviral: three adamantane-resistant (M2-V27A), four oseltamivir-resistant (NA-H275Y), and one baloxavir-resistant (PA-I38T). Additionally, 31 viruses contained mutations that may reduce susceptibility to inhibitors of neuraminidase (NA) (n = 20) or cap-dependent endonuclease (CEN) (n = 11). A panel of 22 …

The Devil You Know And The Devil You Don’T: Current Status And Challenges Of Bovine Tuberculosis Eradication In The United States, Daniel J. O'Brien, Tyler C. Thacker, Liliana C.M. Salvador, Anthony G. Duffiney, Suelee Robbe‑Austerman, Mark S. Camacho, Jason E. Lombard, Mitchell V. Palmer

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Having entered into its second century, the eradication program for bovine tuberculosis (bTB, caused by Mycobacterium bovis) in the United States of America occupies a position both enviable and daunting. Excepting four counties in Michigan comprising only 6109 km2 (0.06% of US land area) classified as Modified Accredited, as of April 2022 the entire country was considered Accredited Free of bTB by the US Department of Agriculture for cattle and bison. On the surface, the now well-described circumstances of endemic bTB in Michigan, where white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) serve as a free-ranging wildlife maintenance host, may appear to be …

Leveraging Eco-Evolutionary Models For Gene Drive Risk Assessment, Matthew A. Combs, Andrew J. Golnar, Justin M. Overcash, Alun L. Lloyd, Keith R. Hayes, David A. O'Brochta, Kim M. Pepin

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Engineered gene drives create potential for both widespread benefits and irreversible harms to ecosystems. CRISPR-based systems of allelic conversion have rapidly accelerated gene drive research across diverse taxa, putting field trials and their necessary risk assessments on the horizon. Dynamic processbased models provide flexible quantitative platforms to predict gene drive outcomes in the context of system-specific ecological and evolutionary features. Here, we synthesize gene drive dynamic modeling studies to highlight research trends, knowledge gaps, and emergent principles, organized around their genetic, demographic, spatial, environmental, and implementation features. We identify the phenomena that most significantly influence model predictions, discuss limitations of …

Evaluating Vaccine Management Strategies For Edwardsiella Ictaluri Infections In Zebrafish (Danio Rerio), Brandy Malbrough

LSU Master's Theses

Aquaculture is a globally important industry that faces significant challenges due to infectious diseases, which can result in substantial financial losses. In 2011, a new strain of Edwardsiella ictaluri emerged as a major pathogen affecting zebrafish in the ornamental fish industry, leading to high mortality rates and posing a severe threat to the sector. Vaccines provide potential benefits for disease prevention in aquaculture, particularly live-attenuated vaccines (LAVs), which induce strong host immune responses. Bacterial attenuation for vaccine development has evolved from serial passage to more targeted genetic modification techniques. However, regulatory constraints limit the availability of licensed LAVs for aquaculture. …

Design, Construction, And Testing Of Recombinant Dna-Based Vaccines For Protection Against Salmonella Enterica Subspecies Enterica Serovar Javiana, Ashley Edwards

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In the United States, Salmonella Javiana is among the top 5 most common nontyphoidal Salmonella serotypes, with a 325% increase in infection rate since 1970. Globally, nontyphoidal Salmonella leads to approximately 93.8 million illnesses and 155,000 deaths annually, with disproportionate impacts in developing countries. In the United States alone, these infections lead to over $4 billion in costs, the majority of which are attributed to those expenses incurred from mortalities. The zoonotic nature of nontyphoidal Salmonellae and their ability to survive on and within vegetation mean huge economic burden potential for various agricultural industries as well, especially since some of …