Veterinary Preventive Medicine, Epidemiology, and Public Health Commons^™

Diets Of Double-Crested Cormorants In The Lake Winnebago System, Wisconsin, Ryan P. Koenigs, Daniel J. Dembkowski, Charles D. Lovell, Daniel A. Isermann, Adam D. Nickel

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Double-crested cormorant Phalacrocorox auritus Lesson (cormorant) populations have increased throughout the Great Lakes region of North America causing concern related to the impact of cormorant predation on fish communities. A recent decline in yellow perch Perca flavescens (Mitchill) abundance within the Lake Winnebago System, Wisconsin, USA, prompted an assessment of cormorant diets to evaluate potential effects of cormorant predation on the sportfish community. Diets were collected from 883 cormorants (417 from Lake Winnebago and 466 from Lake Butte des Morts) between 2015 and 2017. Cormorant diets on both waterbodies consisted mostly of freshwater drum Aplodinotus grunniens Rafinesque and gizzard shad …

Evaluation Of A Warfarin Bait For Controlling Invasive Wild Pigs (Sus Scrofa), James C. Beasley, Lindsay M. Clontz, Allison Rakowski, Nathan P. Snow, Kurt C. Vercauteren

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

BACKGROUND: Wild pigs (Sus scrofa) cause widespread environmental and economic damage, and as a result are subjected to extensive control. Current management strategies have proven insufficient, and there is growing interest in use of toxicants to control invasive populations of this species. In 2017 a low-dose warfarin bait was federally approved for use in controlling wild pigs in the United States. However, no states have allowed use of this bait due to unanswered questions regarding welfare concerns, field efficacy, and non-target impacts.

RESULTS: All captive wild pigs fed 0.005% warfarin baits in no choice feeding trials succumbed in an average …

Estimating Wildlife Strike Costs At Us Airports: A Machine Learning Approach, Levi Altringer, Jordan Navin, Michael J. Begier, Stephanie A. Shwiff, Aaron M. Anderson

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Current lower bound estimates of the economic burden of wildlife strikes make use of mean cost assignment to impute missing values in the National Wildlife Strike Database (NWSD). The accuracy of these estimates, however, are undermined by the skewed nature of reported cost data and fail to account for differences in observed strike characteristics—e.g., type of aircraft, size of aircraft, type of damage, size of animal struck, etc. This paper makes use of modern machine learning techniques to provide a more accurate measure of the strike-related costs that accrue to the US civil aviation industry. We estimate that wildlife strikes …

Organosomatic Indices And Endocrine Related Histopathological Features Of The Testis, Liver, And Kidney In Caged Juvenile Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis Niloticus) From The Seven Lakes Of San Pablo, Aline Karen T. Pagkaliwagan

Undergraduate Theses

This study was conducted to determine the potential effects of EDCs on juvenile male Nile tilapia. Measurement of E2 and BPA in water samples were conducted using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Testis, liver, and kidneys were excised, and the gonadosomatic index (GSI), hepatosomatic index (HSI), and presence of endocrine- related histopathological lesions were determined. Results revealed highly

detectable levels of E2 and BPA in all samples, including water from the deep well supply of the UPLB Limnological Research Station. GSI was lower in fish from Calibato and Yambo lakes in comparison to Sampaloc Lake. HSI was comparatively higher in …

An Assessment Of The Carrier State And A Novel Marker Of Leptospira And Abortion In Central Kentucky Horses, Gloria Louise Gellin

Theses and Dissertations--Veterinary Science

Leptospirosis is a reemerging zoonotic infection of worldwide importance and affects all mammals. The bacterium is transmitted to animals and humans by urine, fetal membranes and body fluids. Leptospira shedding in the urine contaminates both soil and water, exposing both humans and animals to the bacterium. Leptospirosis in horses can cause abortion and is one of the etiologies of equine recurrent uveitis which can lead to blindness. Equine leptospiral abortion in Central Kentucky is primarily caused by serovar Pomona, with occasional cases attributed to serovar Grippotyphosa. There are a few reports in the literature attributing abortion to serovar Bratislava in …

Muscle Mass And Immune Function In The Senior Horse, Alisa Christina Herbst

Theses and Dissertations--Veterinary Science

Senior horses (≥ 15 years) represent up to one-third of the global equine population, and the proportion of old horses (≥ 20 years) in the U.S. has been steadily increasing. Aging is associated with a loss of skeletal muscle mass in horses, and while age-related muscle loss is comparingly well characterized in humans, little is currently known concerning underlying mechanisms, adverse outcomes, or the prevalence of low muscle mass in senior horses. One factor proposed to play a role in the development of age-related muscle atrophy in humans is inflamm-aging, a low-grade inflammation that affects elderly people and that has …

Evidence For Continental-Scale Dispersal Of Antimicrobial Resistant Bacteria By Landfill-Foraging Gulls, Christina A. Ahlstrom, Mariëlle L. Van Toor, Hanna Woksepp, Jeffrey C. Chandler, John A. Reed, Andrew B. Reeves, Jonas Waldenström, Alan B. Franklin, David C. Douglas, Jonas Bonnedahl, Andrew M. Ramey

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Anthropogenic inputs into the environment may serve as sources of antimicrobial resistant bacteria and alter the ecology and population dynamics of synanthropic wild animals by providing supplemental forage. In this study, we used a combination of phenotypic and genomic approaches to characterize antimicrobial resistant indicator bacteria, animal telemetry to describe host movement patterns, and a novel modeling approach to combine information fromthese diverse data streams to investigate the acquisition and long-distance dispersal of antimicrobial resistant bacteria by landfill-foraging gulls. Our results provide evidence that gulls acquire antimicrobial resistant bacteria from anthropogenic sources, which they may subsequently disperse across and between …

Embracing Dynamic Models For Gene Drive Management, Andrew J. Golnar, Emily W. Ruell, Alun L. Lloyd, Kim M. Pepin

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Robust methods of predicting how gene drive systems will interact with ecosystems is essential for safe deployment of gene drive technology. We describe how quantitative tools can reduce risk uncertainty, streamline empirical research, guide risk management, and promote cross-sector collaboration throughout the process of gene drive technology development and implementation.

Gene drive technologies, although diverse in design and mode of action, are molecular architectures that promote the transmission of genetic information between generations. In theory, the release of one gene-drive-modified organism (GDMO) has the potential to irreversibly alter species, ecosystems, and environmental processes at a global scale (although in practice …

Understanding Tolerance For An Invasive Species: An Investigation Of Hunter Acceptance Capacity For Wild Pigs (Sus Scrofa) In Texas, Hailey E. Mclean, Tara L. Teel, Alan Bright, Lauren M. Jaebker, John M. Tomecek, Maureen G. Frank, Rachael L. Connally, Stephanie A. Shwiff, Keith M. Carlisle

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Invasive species and their establishment in new areas have significant impacts on the ecological, economic, and social well-being of our planet. Wild pigs (Sus scrofa) are one of the world’s most formidable invasive species, particularly in the United States. They cause significant damage to agriculture and ecosystems, and can transmit diseases to livestock, wildlife, and people. There is an inherent social dimension to the issue of wild pigs due in part to the fact that people hunt them. Hunting contributes to both the control and spread of this species. The objectives of this study were to: 1) determine hunters’ overall …

Evaluating Lethal Toxicant Doses For The Largest Individuals Of An Invasive Vertebrate Predator With Indeterminate Growth, Shane R. Siers, Scott M. Goetz, Rachel M. Volsteadt, Melia G. Nafus

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The brown treesnake (Boiga irregularis) was accidentally introduced to Guam and caused severe ecological and economic damages. Acetaminophen is an effective, low-risk oral toxicant for invasive brown treesnakes, and an automated aerial delivery system (ADS) has been developed for landscape-scale toxic bait distribution. A fixed dose of 80 mg of acetaminophen within a tablet inserted into a dead neonatal mouse (DNM) was lethal for all brown treesnakes in previous trials; however, these trials did not include very large individuals which are difficult to acquire for testing. Because most reptiles continue to grow throughout their lifespan, a small number …

Surveys For Ticks On Wildlife Hosts And In The Environment At Asian Longhorned Tick (Haemaphysalis Longicornis)-Positive Sites In Virginia And New Jersey, 2018, Seth A. White, Sarah N. Bevins, Mark G. Ruder, David Shaw, Stacey L. Vigil, Adam Randall, Thomas J. Deliberto, Kristen Dominguez, Alec T. Thompson, James W. Mertins, Jeffrey T. Alfred, Michael J. Yabsley

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Haemaphysalis longicornis, the Asian longhorned tick (ALT), is native to eastern Asia, but it has become invasive in several countries, including Australia, New Zealand and recently in the eastern United States (US). To identify wild mammal and avian host species in the US, we conducted active wildlife surveillance in two states with known ALT infestations (Virginia and New Jersey). In addition, we conducted environmental surveys in both states. These surveillance efforts resulted in detection of 51 ALTinfested individuals from seven wildlife species, including raccoon (Procyon lotor), Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana), red fox (Vulpes vulpes …

Economic Effects Of Predation By Scaup On Baitfish And Sportfish Farms, Carole R. Engle, Stephen Clements, Brian S. Dorr, J. Brian Davis, Luke A. Roy, Anita M. Kelly

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Fish-eating birds have been found to consume baitfish and sportfish raised on farms in the United States. Understanding the on-farm economic effects of such wildlife conflicts is essential for wildlife management agencies to make informed decisions. Lesser scaup, while not widely considered a fisheating bird, will consume farmed fish. Baitfish and sportfish farms in Arkansas (the major baitfish and sportfish producingstate in the U.S.) were surveyed to gather data on the cost of protecting farm crops from scaup. The values of lost sales revenue from the various species of baitfish and sportfish consumed by scaup were estimated based on a …

Toxoplasma Gondii Prevalence In Carnivorous Wild Birds In The Eastern United States, Sawsan Ammar, Liberty Wood, Chunlei Su, Maria Spriggs, Justin Brown, Kyle Van Why, Richard Gerhold

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Toxoplasma gondii is an important zoonotic protozoan parasite that can infect all warm-blooded animals including mammals and birds. Raptors can be intermediate hosts for T. gondii and the infection may be dependent on their feeding habits. In this study, we investigated the seroprevalence of T. gondii in ten raptor species from Florida, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee followed by a parasite bioassay on select seropositive samples. From a total of 155 raptors, we detected T. gondii antibodies using a modified agglutination test (cutoff 1:25) in 32 (20.6%) birds. The T. gondii seroprevalence was 44.8% in Falconiformes (13/29), 75% in Strigiformes (15/20), and …

Evidence On The Effectiveness Of Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (Suas) As A Survey Tool For North American Terrestrial, Vertebrate Animals: A Systematic Map Protocol, Jared A. Elmore, Michael F. Curran, Kristine O. Evans, Sathishkumar Samiappan, Meilun Zhou, Morgan B. Pfeiffer, Bradley F. Blackwell, Raymond B. Iglay

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Background: Small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) are replacing or supplementing manned aircraft and groundbased surveys in many animal monitoring situations due to better coverage at finer spatial and temporal resolutions, access, cost, bias, impacts, safety, efficiency, and logistical benefits. Various sUAS models and sensors are available with varying features and usefulness depending on survey goals. However, justification for selection of sUAS and sensors are not typically offered in published literature and existing reviews do not adequately cover past and current sUAS applications for animal monitoring nor their associated sUAS model and sensor technologies, taxonomic and geographic scope, flight conditions and …

Rabies Post-Exposure Healthcare-Seeking Behaviors And Perceptions: Results From A Knowledge, Attitudes, And Practices Survey, Uganda, 2013, Sarah C. Bonaparte, Laura Adams, Barnabas Bakamutumaho, Galileu Barbosa Costa, Julie M. Cleaton, Amy Gilbert, Modupe Osinubi, Emily G. Pieracci, Sergio Recuenco, Victor Tugumizemu, Joseph Wamala, Ryan M. Wallace

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Background Rabies is a viral disease of animals and people causing fatal encephalomyelitis if left untreated. Although effective pre- and post-exposure vaccines exist, they are not widely available in many endemic countries within Africa. Since many individuals in these countries remain at risk of infection, post-exposure healthcare-seeking behaviors are crucial in preventing infection and warrant examination.

Methodology A rabies knowledge, attitudes, and practices survey was conducted at 24 geographically diverse sites in Uganda during 2013 to capture information on knowledge concerning the disease, response to potential exposure events, and vaccination practices. Characteristics of the surveyed population and of the canine-bite …

Differing Alterations Of Odor Volatiles Among Pathogenic Stimuli, Patrick Millet, Talia Martin, Maryanne Opiekun, Gary K. Beauchamp, Bruce A. Kimball

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Alterations of the volatile metabolome (the collection of volatiles present in secretions and other emanations) that occur in response to inflammation can be detected by conspecifics and chemometric analyses. Using a model system where mouse urinary metabolites are altered by treatment with lipopolysaccharide (found in the outer cell membrane of gram-negative bacteria), we hypothesized that alteration of body odor volatiles will vary according to the pathogen responsible for inducing the inflammation. We tested this hypothesis by treating mice with different immunogens that engage different immune signaling pathways. Results suggest that alterations of body odor volatiles resulting from inflammation do contain …

Occurrence Of Mesocarnivores In Montane Sky Islands: How Spatial And Temporal Overlap Informs Rabies Management In A Regional Hotspot, Amanda M. Veals, John Koprowski, David L. Bergman, Kurt C. Vercauteren, David B. Wester

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Interspecific interactions among mesocarnivores can influence community dynamics and resource partitioning. Insights into these interactions can enhance understanding of local ecological processes that have impacts on pathogen transmission, such as the rabies lyssavirus. Host species ecology can provide an important baseline for disease management strategies especially in biologically diverse ecosystems and heterogeneous landscapes. We used a mesocarnivore guild native to the southwestern United States, a regional rabies hotspot, that are prone to rabies outbreaks as our study system. Gray foxes (Urocyon cinereoargenteus), striped skunks (Mephitis mephitis), bobcats (Lynx rufus), and coyotes (Canis latrans) share large portions of their geographic ranges …

Sars-Cov-2 Exposure In Wild White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus Virginianus), Jeffrey C. Chandler, Sarah N. Bevins, Jeremy W. Ellis, Timothy J. Linder, Rachel M. Tell, Melinda Jenkins-Moore, J. Jeffrey Root, Julianna B. Lenoch, Suelee Robbe-Austerman, Thomas J. Deliberto, Tom Gidlewski, Mia Kim Torchetti, Susan A. Shriner

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Widespread human SARS-CoV-2 infections combined with human–wildlife interactions create the potential for reverse zoonosis from humans to wildlife. We targeted white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) for serosurveillance based on evidence these deer have angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 receptors with high affinity for SARS-CoV-2, are permissive to infection, exhibit sustained viral shedding, can transmit to conspecifics, exhibit social behavior, and can be abundant near urban centers. We evaluated 624 prepandemic and postpandemic serum samples from wild deer from four US states for SARS-CoV-2 exposure. Antibodies were detected in 152 samples (40%) from 2021 using a surrogate virus neutralization test. A subset of samples …

Using Object-Based Image Analysis To Detect Laughing Gull Nests, Benjamin F. Martini, Douglas A. Miller

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Remote sensing has long been used to study wildlife; however, manual methods of detecting wildlife in aerial imagery are often time-consuming and prone to human error, and newer computer vision techniques have not yet been extensively applied to wildlife surveys. We used the object-based image analysis (OBIA) software eCognition to detect laughing gull (Leucophaeus atricilla) nests in Jamaica Bay as part of an ongoing monitoring effort at the John F. Kennedy International Airport. Our technique uses a combination of high resolution 4-band aerial imagery captured via manned aircraft with a multispectral UltraCam Falcon M2 camera, LiDAR point cloud data, and …

Detection Of Two Dissimilar Chronic Wasting Disease Isolates In Two Captive Rocky Mountain Elk (Cervus Canadensis) Herds: Two Distinctive Chronic Wasting Disease Isolates Identified In Captive Elk, Tracy A. Nichols, Eric M. Nicholson, Yihui Liu, Wanyin Tao, Terry R. Spraker, Michael Lavelle, Justin W. Fischer, Qingzhong Kong, Kurt C. Vercauteren

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) continues to spread in both wild and captive cervid herds in North America and has now been identified in wild reindeer and moose in Norway, Finland and Sweden. There is limited knowledge about the variety and characteristics of isolates or strains of CWD that exist in the landscape and their implications on wild and captive cervid herds. In this study, we evaluated brain samples from two captive elk herds that had differing prevalence, history and timelines of CWD incidence. Site 1 had a 16-year history of CWD with a consistently low prevalence between 5% and 10%. …

Environmental Dna For Conservation, Antoinette J. Piaggio

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Biodiversity must be documented before it can be conserved. However, it may be difficult to document species with few individuals (Thompson, 2013; Goldberg et al., 2016), thus it requires a multitude of tools to detect species that occur in low numbers or are elusive (see the various chapters in this volume). One tool that has become useful for conservation efforts utilizes environmental DNA, which is DNA shed into the environment by organisms (eDNA; Taberlet et al., 2018). Typically this involves taking environmental samples such as soil, water, air, or using biological surrogates for sampling biodiversity (e.g. leeches, sponges, carrion flies, …

A Novel Technique To Improve Capture Success Of Common Ravens, Lindsey R. Perry, Terrah M. Owens, Zachary T. Slick, Jimmy Taylor, Jonathan B. Dinkins

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Traditional trapping techniques for common ravens (Corvus corax; raven) require significant effort, often produce low capture rates, and cannot be used in some situations. We designed a 3-m noose pole to secure ravens from nocturnal roost locations while using a strobe spotlight to temporarily disorient them. We collected measures of trapping efficiency and contrasted them with padded leghold traps also used in the study. We effectively implemented our noose pole method in July and August of 2018, 2019, and 2020 in the Baker and Cow Lakes sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) Priority Areas of Conservation in eastern Oregon, USA, which yielded trapping …

Multi-Level Movement Response Of Invasive Wild Pigs (Sus Scrofa) To Removal, Guillaume Bastille-Rousseau, Peter E. Schlichting, David A. Keiter, Joshua B. Smith, John C. Kilgo, George Wittemyer, Kurt C. Vercauteren, James C. Beasley, Kim M. Pepin

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

BACKGROUND: Lethal removal of invasive species, such as wild pigs (Sus scrofa), is often the most efficient approach for reducing their negative impacts. Wild pigs are one of the most widespread and destructive invasive mammals in the USA. Lethal management techniques are a key approach for wild pigs and can alter wild pig spatial behavior, but it is unclear how wild pigs respond to the most common removal technique, trapping.We investigated the spatial behavior of wild pigs following intensive removal of conspecifics via trapping at three sites within the Savannah River Site, SC, USA. We evaluated changes in …

Anthraquinone Repellent Seed Treatment On Corn Reduces Feeding By Wild Pigs, Nathan P. Snow, Joseph M. Halseth, Scott J. Werner, Kurt C. Vercauteren

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Wild pigs (Sus scrofa) are a destructive invasive species that cause extensive damage to agriculture throughout many regions of the world. In particular wild pigs damage corn more than any other crop, and most of that damage occurs immediately after planting when wild pigs excavate and consume planted seeds. We evaluated whether anthraquinone (AQ), a repellent, could be useful for protecting seed corn from consumption by wild pigs. Specifically, we conducted cafeteria-style tests at 16 bait sites for 6 nights using concentrations of: untreated, 0.5, 1.5, and 3.0% AQ by weight sprayed on whole-kernel corn in AL and …

Evaluating The Effects Of Mountain Beaver (Aplodontia Rufa) Management On Conifer Stocking In Western Oregon, Jimmy D. Taylor, Vanessa M. Petro

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Mountain beaver (Aplodontia rufa) is the most primitive rodent species in North America and is endemic to the Pacific Northwest, USA. Within their range, mountain beaver cause more conflict with conifer forest regeneration than any other vertebrate species. Most damage occurs as a result of clipping and browsing new seedlings, which reduces stocking density and delays stand development. An integrated approach using trapping and a registered toxicant (baiting) has been suggested as the most efficacious means to reduce seedling loss during stand initiation. We evaluated this management strategy in intensively managed conifer stands across two mountain ranges in …

Principal Economic Effects Of Cormorant Predation On Catfish Farms, Carole R. Engle, Terrel W. Christie, Brian S. Dorr, Ganesh Kumar, Luke A. Roy, Anita M. Kelly

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Substantial economic losses of farmed catfish to fish-eating birds such as the double-crested cormorant, Phalacrocorax auritus, continue to be reported on U.S. catfish farms. An economic analysis was conducted of the on-farm effects of both the increased expenditures to scare fish-eating birds from catfish farms and of the value of the catfish that were consumed by cormorants. A survey was conducted of U.S. catfish farmers in the Delta region of Mississippi and Arkansas, to obtain farm-level data on expenditures to scare birds. Estimations of the lost revenue from catfish consumed by cormorants were developed from a concurrent study on …

Variation In Angiostrongylus Cantonensis Infection In Definitive And Intermediate Hosts In Hawaii, A Global Hotspot Of Rat Lungworm Disease, Chris Niebuhr, Shane R. Siers, Israel Leinbach, Lisa M. Kaluna, Susan I. Jarvi

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Angiostrongylus cantonensis (rat lungworm) is a tropical and subtropical parasitic nematode, with infections in humans causing angiostrongyliasis (rat lungworm disease), characterized by eosinophilic meningitis. Hawaii has been identified as a global hotspot of infection, with recent reports of high infection rates in humans, as well as rat definitive and snail intermediate hosts. This study investigated variation in A. cantonensis infection, both prevalence and intensity, in wild populations of two species of rats (Rattus exulans and R. rattus) and one species of snail (Parmarion martensi). An overall infection prevalence of 86.2% was observed in P. martensi and …

Food Habits Of Wintering Double-Crested Cormorants In The Mississippi Delta, Terrel W. Christie, Brian S. Dorr, J. Brian Davis, Luke A. Roy, Carole R. Engle, Katie Hanson-Dorr, Anita M. Kelly

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Given its ubiquity, it is not surprising that agriculture, including fin fish aquaculture, contributes to food webs worldwide and is used by numerous wildlife for foraging and meeting other needs. Double-crested Cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus) impact United States commercial aquaculture and are considered the primary avian predator in catfish (Ictalurus spp.) aquaculture facilities in the Mississippi Delta. Recent changes in aquaculture practices, regulatory policies, and decreased overall hectares in production prompted this study that assessed cormorant consumption of catfish in relation to their night roosts through surveys and diet analysis. Cormorants were collected from night roosts from October …

Estimation Of Wildlife Damage From Federal Crop Insurance Data, Sophie Mckee, Stephanie A. Shwiff, Aaron M. Anderson

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

BACKGROUND: Wildlife damage to crops is a persistent and costly problem for many farmers in the USA. Most existing estimates of crop damage have relied on direct assessment methods such as field studies conducted by trained biologists or surveys distributed to farmers. In this paper, we describe a new method of estimating wildlife damage that exploits federal crop insurance data. We focused our study on four crops: corn, soybean, wheat, and cotton, chosen because of their economic importance and their vulnerability to wildlife damage.

RESULTS: We determined crop-raiding hot spots across the USA over the 2015–2019 period and identified the …

A Framework For Surveillance Of Emerging Pathogens At The Human-Animal Interface: Pigs And Coronaviruses As A Case Study, Kim M. Pepin, Ryan S. Miller, Mark Q. Wilber

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Pigs (Sus scrofa) may be important surveillance targets for risk assessment and risk-based control planning against emerging zoonoses. Pigs have high contact rates with humans and other animals, transmit similar pathogens as humans including CoVs, and serve as reservoirs and intermediate hosts for notable human pandemics. Wild and domestic pigs both interface with humans and each other but have unique ecologies that demand different surveillance strategies. Three fundamental questions shape any surveillance program: where, when, and how can surveillance be conducted to optimize the surveillance objective? Using theory of mechanisms of zoonotic spillover and data on risk factors, …