Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Environment and Natural Resources, Government of the Northwest Territories, Yellowknife, Alberta, Canada.
PLoS One. 2019 Jul 31;14(7):e0219838. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0219838. eCollection 2019.
Pathogens can impact host survival, fecundity, and population dynamics even when no obvious disease is observed. Few baseline data on pathogen prevalence and diversity of caribou are available, which hampers our ability to track changes over time and evaluate impacts on caribou health. Archived blood samples collected from ten migratory caribou herds in Canada and two in Greenland were used to test for exposure to pathogens that have the potential to effect population productivity, are zoonotic or are emerging. Relationships between seroprevalence and individual, population, and other health parameters were also examined. For adult caribou, the highest overall seroprevalence was for alphaherpesvirus (49%, n = 722), pestivirus (49%, n = 572) and Neospora caninum (27%, n = 452). Lower seroprevalence was found for parainfluenza virus type 3 (9%, n = 708), Brucella suis (2%, n = 758), and Toxoplasma gondii (2%, n = 706). No animal tested positive for antibodies against West Nile virus (n = 418) or bovine respiratory syncytial virus (n = 417). This extensive multi-pathogen survey of migratory caribou herds provides evidence that caribou are exposed to pathogens that may have impacts on herd health and revealed potential interactions between pathogens as well as geographical differences in pathogen exposure that could be linked to the bio-geographical history of caribou. Caribou are a keystone species and the socio-economic cornerstone of many indigenous cultures across the North. The results from this study highlight the urgent need for a better understanding of pathogen diversity and the impact of pathogens on caribou health.
病原体即使在没有明显疾病的情况下也会影响宿主的生存、繁殖力和种群动态。目前关于驯鹿病原体的流行率和多样性的基线数据很少，这阻碍了我们跟踪随时间变化的能力，并评估对驯鹿健康的影响。从加拿大的 10 个迁徙驯鹿群和格陵兰的 2 个迁徙驯鹿群中收集的存档血液样本用于检测可能影响种群生产力的病原体、人畜共患病原体或新兴病原体的暴露情况。还检查了血清阳性率与个体、种群和其他健康参数之间的关系。对于成年驯鹿，总体血清阳性率最高的是α疱疹病毒（49%，n=722）、瘟病毒（49%，n=572）和刚地弓形虫（27%，n=452）。副流感病毒 3 型（9%，n=708）、猪布氏杆菌（2%，n=758）和弓形虫（2%，n=706）的血清阳性率较低。没有动物对西尼罗河病毒（n=418）或牛呼吸道合胞病毒（n=417）的抗体呈阳性。对迁徙驯鹿群进行的这种广泛的多病原体调查提供了证据，证明驯鹿接触到的病原体可能对畜群健康产生影响，并揭示了病原体之间的潜在相互作用以及病原体暴露的地理差异，这些差异可能与驯鹿的生物地理历史有关。驯鹿是一种关键物种，也是北美许多土著文化的社会经济基石。这项研究的结果强调了迫切需要更好地了解病原体的多样性以及病原体对驯鹿健康的影响。
