Cornell Wildlife Health Lab, Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine, 240 Farrier Rd., Ithaca, New York 14853, USA.
Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, Prairie Management Program, PO Box 590, Eagle Butte, South Dakota 57625, USA.
J Wildl Dis. 2021 Apr 1;57(2):264-272. doi: 10.7589/JWD-D-20-00015.
As part of the national recovery effort, endangered black-footed ferrets (Mustela nigripes) were reintroduced to the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation in South Dakota, US in 2000. Despite an encouraging start, numbers of ferrets at the site have declined. In an effort to determine possible causes of the population decline, we undertook a pathogen survey in 2012 to detect exposure to West Nile virus (WNV), canine distemper virus (CDV), plague (Yersinia pestis), tularemia (Francisella tularensis), and heartworm (Dirofilaria immitis) using coyotes (Canis latrans) as a sentinel animal. The highest seroprevalence was for WNV with 71% (20/28) of coyotes testing antibody-positive. Seroprevalence of CDV and plague were lower, 27% and 13%, respectively. No evidence of active infection with tularemia or heartworm was seen in the coyotes sampled. As this study did not sample black-footed ferrets themselves, the definitive cause for the decline of this population cannot be determined. However, the presence of coyotes seropositive for two diseases, plague and CDV, lethal to black-footed ferrets, indicated the potential for exposure and infection. The high seroprevalence of WNV in the coyotes indicated a wide exposure to the virus; therefore, exposure of black-footed ferrets to the virus is also likely. Due to the ability of WNV to cause fatal disease in other species, studies may be useful to elucidate the impact that WNV could have on the success of reintroduced black-footed ferrets as well as factors influencing the spread and incidence of the disease in a prairie ecosystem.
作为国家复苏努力的一部分，2000 年，濒危的黑足雪貂（Mustela nigripes）被重新引入美国南达科他州的夏延河苏族保留地。尽管开局令人鼓舞，但该地点的雪貂数量有所下降。为了确定种群数量下降的可能原因，我们于 2012 年进行了一项病原体调查，使用郊狼（Canis latrans）作为哨位动物，检测西尼罗河病毒（WNV）、犬瘟热病毒（CDV）、鼠疫（Yersinia pestis）、兔热病（Francisella tularensis）和心丝虫（Dirofilaria immitis）的暴露情况。郊狼的血清阳性率最高，WNV 为 71%（20/28），CDV 和鼠疫的血清阳性率分别为 27%和 13%。在采样的郊狼中，没有发现兔热病或心丝虫的活跃感染。由于本研究没有对黑足雪貂本身进行采样，因此无法确定该种群数量下降的明确原因。然而，郊狼对两种疾病——鼠疫和 CDV——呈血清阳性，这两种疾病对黑足雪貂具有致命性，表明它们可能接触并感染了这些疾病。郊狼中 WNV 的高血清阳性率表明它们广泛接触到了这种病毒；因此，黑足雪貂也很可能接触到了这种病毒。由于 WNV 能够导致其他物种致命疾病，因此研究可能有助于阐明 WNV 对重新引入的黑足雪貂成功的影响，以及在草原生态系统中影响疾病传播和发病率的因素。
