Retrospective seroepidemiological study of small ruminant lentivirus, paratuberculosis and brucellosis in goats from Mexico, based on multiplex assay

Mexican goat production systems face infection risks from Brucella melitensis, small ruminant lentivirus (SRLv) and Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP); agents that cause great economic losses and directly affect public health (brucellosis and paratuberculosis [PTb]). Currently, there are no diagnostic tests applicable at large scale nor epidemiological information regarding the seroprevalence for these infectious diseases. For this study, a multiplex antibody assay (Luminex®) was used to retrospectively study the seroprevalence of brucellosis, SRLv, and PTb in the sera of 983 goats from nine Mexican states. Sera were obtained between 2014 and 2019. Antibodies against all three infectious diseases were detected in almost all tested samples. The estimated seroprevalence values ranged from 37% to 78% for brucellosis, 21% to 65% for SRLv, and 0% to 13% for PTb. The multiplex assay (Luminex®) is a simple, accessible, efficient, and cost-effective seroprevalence monitoring tool for brucellosis, SRLv, and PTb, and can be used as a large-scale approach

Data from: Macroecology of birds potentially susceptible to the West Nile Virus

Zoonotic diseases transmitted by wildlife affect biological conservation, public and animal health, and the economy. Current research efforts are aimed at finding wildlife pathogens at a given location. However, a meta-analytical approach may reveal emerging macroecological patterns in the host-pathogen relationship at different temporal and spatial scales. West Nile Virus (WNV) is a pathogen with worldwide detrimental impacts on bird populations. To understand macroecological patterns driving WNV infection, we aimed to recognise unknown competent reservoirs using three disease metrics serological prevalence (SP), molecular prevalence (MP) and mortality (M) and test if these metrics are correlated with the evolutionary history, geographical origin of bird species, viral strain, time-space, and methodology. We performed a quantitative review of field studies on birds sampled for WNV. We obtained 4945 observations of 949 species from 39 countries. Our analysis supported the idea that MP and M are good predictors of reservoir competence and allowed us to identify potential competent reservoirs. Furthermore, results indicated that the variability of these metrics was attributable to phylogenetic, time-space, and sample size. A macroecological approach is needed to recognise susceptible species and competent reservoirs and to identify other factors driving zoonotic diseases originating from wildlife

Appendix 1. Database of birds tested to WNV

The database is a compilation of worldwide studies of birds sampled for West Nile Virus through diagnostic techniques of serology and molecular biology. Each observation includes an ID that is associated with the information of the original study. The database consists of 147 published studies including 4995 records which ranged from the years 1959 to 2017 and represented 39 countrie