Olea-Popelka Francisco, Ferrie Gina M, Morris Cheryl, Pessier Allan P, Schad Kristine, Stamper M Andrew, Gagliardo Ron, Koutsos Elizabeth, Valdes Eduardo V
Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado.
Zoo Biol. 2014 Nov-Dec;33(6):586-91. doi: 10.1002/zoo.21178. Epub 2014 Oct 3.
The Epidemiology Working Group, a subgroup of the participants of the Disney's Animal Kingdom Workshop on "Ex situ Amphibian Medicine and Nutrition," identified a critical need to design and implement approaches that will facilitate the assessment and evaluation of factors impacting amphibian health. In this manuscript, we describe and summarize the outcomes of this workshop with regards (a) the identified gaps in knowledge, (b) identified priorities for closing these gaps, and (c) compile a list of actions to address these priorities. Four general areas of improvement were identified in relation to how measurements are currently being taken to evaluate ex situ amphibian health: nutrition, infectious diseases, husbandry, and integrated biology including genetics and endocrinology. The proposed actions that will be taken in order to address the identified gaps include: (1) identify and quantify major health issues affecting ex situ amphibian populations, (2) identify and coordinate laboratories to conduct analyses using standardized and validated protocols to measure nutritional, infectious diseases, genetic, and hormonal parameters, (3) determine in situ baseline distribution of parameters related to amphibian health, and (4) establish an inter-disciplinary research approach to target specific hypotheses related to amphibian health such as the effects of population genetics (e.g., relatedness, inbreeding) on disease susceptibility, or how environmental parameters are related to chronic stress and hormone production. We think is important to address current gaps in knowledge regarding amphibian health in order to increase the probability to succeed in addressing the issues faced by in situ and ex situ amphibians populations. We are confident that the recommendations provided in this manuscript will facilitate to address these challenges and could have a positive impact in both the health of in situ and ex situ amphibian populations, worldwide.
流行病学工作组是迪士尼动物王国“圈养两栖动物医学与营养”研讨会参与者的一个子小组，确定了设计和实施相关方法的迫切需求，这些方法将有助于评估和评价影响两栖动物健康的因素。在本手稿中，我们描述并总结了本次研讨会在以下方面的成果：（a）已确定的知识差距；（b）确定的弥补这些差距的优先事项；（c）编制一份针对这些优先事项的行动清单。在目前评估圈养两栖动物健康的测量方式方面，确定了四个总体改进领域：营养、传染病、饲养管理以及包括遗传学和内分泌学在内的综合生物学。为弥补已确定的差距而将采取的拟议行动包括：（1）识别并量化影响圈养两栖动物种群的主要健康问题；（2）识别并协调实验室，使用标准化和经过验证的方案进行分析，以测量营养、传染病、遗传和激素参数；（3）确定与两栖动物健康相关参数的野外基线分布；（4）建立跨学科研究方法，以针对与两栖动物健康相关的特定假设，如种群遗传学（例如亲缘关系、近亲繁殖）对疾病易感性的影响，或环境参数与慢性应激和激素产生之间的关系。我们认为，弥补当前两栖动物健康方面的知识差距很重要，以便增加成功解决野外和圈养两栖动物种群所面临问题的可能性。我们相信，本手稿中提供的建议将有助于应对这些挑战，并可能对全球野外和圈养两栖动物种群的健康产生积极影响。
