WILDLIFE DISEASES:
An Overview
Gary Witmer and Robert McLean
USDA APHIS Wildlife Services
National Wildlife Research Center
Fort Collins, Colorado
Topics to cover….
Wildlife values and
conflicts
Diseases terms and
concepts
Wildlife diseases:
some examples
Dealing with
wildlife diseases
and reducing risks
Further information
Wildlife has great value……
Recreational values
– Consumptive
– Non-consumptive
Ecosystem roles,
biodiversity
Contribute to all
levels of economy
A PUBLIC resource
held in trust!
But wildlife cause damage and conflicts…
Agricultural crops
Forestry, orchards
Rangeland,
livestock
Property, cables,
structures
Natural resources
Human health and
safety
Wildlife are subject to---and can
transmit---numerous diseases….
Some wildlife diseases can be transmitted to
people, livestock, pets
Problems most likely when wildlife is
overabundant or in close contact with “us”
All types of wildlife can be involved: rodents,
ungulates, birds, carnivores
Situations difficult to predict, monitor, deal with!
The setting for a disease
situation…
Pathogen
Vectors, fomites
Transmission routes
Host Environment
Some other disease terms…..
Epidemiology Zoonotic disease
Surveillance Endemic vs. exotic
Incidence and foreign, emerging
prevalence rates Disease outbreak:
Disease diagnostic – Epidemic
tests: – Pandemic
– Sensitivity
– Specificity
Virulence, resistance
Infectious, shedding
Examples of disease agents or pathogens
involving wildlife….
Viruses: hantavirus, rabies, West Nile
virus
Bacteria: Lyme disease, plague, tularemia
Rickettsia: Rocky Mtn. spotted fever,
typhus fever
Prions: Chronic wasting disease (CWD)
Mycotic (fungus): histoplasmosis,
cryptococcosis
Protozoans: toxoplasmosis, giardia
Parasites: trichinosis, raccoon roundworm
Many ways (direct and indirect) to
get exposed to wildlife diseases….
Handling contaminated materials
Ingesting infected meat, water
Bites or scratches from infected
wildlife
Inhaling contaminated air, materials
Bites from infected insects
Rabies exposure comes from a direct
bite or scratch of an infected animal…..
Indirect transmission of hantaviruses
Chronically infected
rodent
Horizontal transmission of
infection by intraspecific
aggressive behavior
Virus is present in Virus also present in
aerosolized excreta, throat swab and feces
particularly urine Secondary aerosols, mucous
membrane contact, and skin
breaches are also a consideration
Infection via an insect vector: West
Nile Virus transmission cycle
Mosquito vectors
Culex species
VIRUS
VIRUS VIRUS
Secondary and
Virus Incidental Hosts
H
Avian reservoirs
Bird Mortality
Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD)
Distribution of CWD in
Free-ranging Cervids
APHIS/USDA
Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD)….
Agent: prion (an abnormal protein)
Transmissible spongiform encephalopathy:
BSE (cattle), Scrapie (sheep), TME (mink),
and CJD (humans)
Neurologic disease of cervids (deer & elk)
Slow developing, chronic disease, animals
“waste away”; 1-5% infection rates
Prions are very persistent in the
environment and can’t be detected
Are trying to develop live animal tests
Herd/density reductions are generally
used to control
Many difficulties in dealing with
wildlife diseases…
Hard to sample wildlife; hard to
detect diseased animals and
carcasses rarely found
Few diagnostic tests for wild animals
Knowledge of wildlife diseases,
transmission and cycles lacking
People very protective of wildlife
How do we protect ourselves and reduce
the risk of contracting a wildlife disease??
Know the wildlife and diseases that
occur in your area!!
Know the symptoms of those
diseases!!
Seek medical help if you even
suspect that you were exposed!!
Practice good sanitation (clean and
cook foods properly, use only treated
water, wash hands before eating, use
disinfectants)
Additional suggestions…..
Don’t handle wild animals or carcasses
without training and proper equipment and
procedures
Use insecticides & proper clothing in
certain risk situations
Gloves and face masks/respirators should
be used in some situations
Get vaccinated, if available, before going
into a high risk situation
Minimize exposure of self, pets, livestock
to wildlife
Take steps to reduce populations of certain
hosts or vectors
Report unusual observations, events
Conducting risk analysis of disease in
wildlife….
Potentially big economic
aspects: human health,
livestock, wildlife
resources
Assess the risks….
Manage the risks…
Communicate info about
the risks….
Much federal and state
activity in this area !
Where to get more information….
State and county health offices
Centers for Disease Control (www.cdc.gov
)
Control of Communicable Diseases in Man,
A. Benenson (ed.), Publ. by the Amer.
Public Health Assoc.
Wildlife Diseases and Humans, R. McLean,
in The Prevention and Control of Wildlife
Damage, S. Hygnstrom (ed.), Nebraska
Cooperative Extension Service, Lincoln
