Infectious diseases of interest for the conservation of peccaries in the Amazon: A systematic quantitative review

Infectious diseases are increasingly emerging and spreading globally, ending up being considered a threat to biodiversity. In the Amazon region, repeated disappearance episodes of local populations of white-lipped peccaries have been reported during the last decades. These population crashes remain poorly understood, but current knowledge suggests a potential role of infectious diseases. We conducted a systematic quantitative literature review on infectious diseases affecting suiform species in the Amazon region, analyzing the current knowledge on the topic, and identifying health threats for peccaries. We found that information on the health status of free-ranging peccaries in the Amazon region is scarce, geographically uneven, and mostly cross-sectional. We recommend working with local communities and using alternative participatory sampling methodologies to address the logistical problem of working in this wilderness setting. Furthermore, we emphasize the importance of developing studies with broader geographical coverage and multidisciplinary approaches, especially in areas where episodes of disappearance of white-lipped peccaries have already been observed.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Dinàmica del virus de la febre hemorràgica de Crimea-Congo en dos ungulats silvestres del nordest d’Espanya

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Evaluation of passive integrated transponder tags for marking urodeles

The use of passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags in urodeles has become popular for individual marking in population and disease ecology studies. However, mark loss or mark-induced mortality can introduce biases and decrease precision in parameter estimates, leading to ineffective population management strategies. In this study we aimed to 1) analyze the existing literature on the use of PIT tags in urodeles; 2) determine whether species characteristics and PIT tagging methods influenced PIT tag rejection across studies; and 3) experimentally assess the adequacy of a subcutaneous PIT tagging method without anesthesia in three European urodele species. We systematically and quantitatively reviewed a database of literature related to the use of PIT tags in urodeles, classified and examined urodele species details, study design, PIT tagging methods, and outcomes across studies. Among the 51 peer-reviewed papers that fit our criteria, the most striking finding was the lack of reporting and standardization of the PIT tagging procedures. The majority of studies presented incomplete information on factors that could strongly influence the probability of PIT tag rejection as well as impact individual welfare (i.e. PIT tag size, its anatomical placement in the animal, anesthesia use, sterility or skin closure methods). We could not identify significant predictors of PIT tag loss, suggesting that the effectivity of PIT tags may be highly specific to the species and method used. Our PIT tagging method proved reliable in Salamandra salamandra and Pleurodeles waltl, whereas it did not seem a suitable technique for Calotriton asper (PIT tag loss was 0% and 66.6%, respectively, and significantly different among species). Overall, we recommend a greater emphasis on reporting implantation methods, ensuring animal welfare and performing species and protocol specific laboratory trials before using PIT tags in urodeles in the field. Critically analyzing PIT tagging methods as well as testing their use in different species is essential to ensure the validity of future research studies and conservation strategies in urodeles.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Evidence of Prolonged Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever Virus Endemicity by Retrospective Serosurvey, Eastern Spain

We conducted a retrospective serosurvey for antibodies against Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus in wild ungulates along the eastern Mediterranean Coast of Spain. The virus has been endemic in this region since 2010 but is mainly restricted to geographic clusters with extremely high seropositivity associated with high density of bovids.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Lack of Detection of Toxoplasma gondii in Pipistrellus spp. Bats from Densely Cat-Populated Areas of NE Spain

Toxoplasma gondii infection in healthy animals is often asymptomatic. However, some species with little history of contact with the parasite, such as marsupials and New World primates, present high mortality rates after infection. Despite its potential conservation concern, T. gondii infection in insectivorous bats has received little attention, and its impact on bat populations’ health is unknown. To assess the putative role of insectivorous bats in the cycle of T. gondii, samples of three species of bats (Pipistrellus pipistrellus, P. pygmaeus and P. kuhlii) collected between 2019 and 2021 in NE Spain were tested for the presence of the parasite using a qPCR. All tissues resulted negative (0.0% prevalence with 95% CI: [0.0–2.6]) for the presence of T. gondii. Unlike previous studies on insectivorous bats from Europe, Asia and America, the present study suggests that Pipistrellus spp. bats do not play a significant role in the epidemiology of T. gondii in NE Spain. Further studies are encouraged to elucidate both the epidemiology of T. gondii and its potential impact on the health of microchiropteran species in Europe.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Toxoplasma gondii in a Remote Subsistence Hunting-Based Indigenous Community of the Peruvian Amazon

Toxoplasma gondii is a ubiquitous zoonotic protozoan parasite that infects a wide variety range of warm-blooded animals. This study describes the epidemiological scenario of T. gondii in an indigenous community that relies on subsistence hunting in a well-conserved and isolated area of the Peruvian Amazon. The high seropositivity against T. gondii in humans (83.3% IgG and 6.1% IgM), wild mammals (30.45%, 17 species), peri-domestic rodents (10.0% Rattus sp.), and domestic animals (94.1% dogs and 100% cats) indicates the existence of a sylvatic cycle in the community under study. Individual age was found to be positively associated with IgG detection against T. gondii but not with IgM. It is estimated that each family consumed 5.67 infected animals per year with terrestrial species having higher infective rates than arboreal species. The main risk factors included improper handling and cooking of wild meat, poor hygiene practices, and feeding uncooked offal to domestic animals. This scenario results in a continuous process of infection and reinfection within the indigenous community with cats, dogs, and peri-domestic animals becoming infected through the ingestion of infected raw viscera. Our results emphasize the need to promote safe food handling practices and disposal of waste materials from hunted animals in such communities.This work was supported by ERANet-LAC (ERANet17/HLH-0271), research projects (Contract N◦ 136-2018-FONDECYT; AC18/00054 Instituto de Salud Carlos; 400800/2019-5 CNPq), and the training grant D43 TW007393 awarded by the Fogarty International Center of the US National Institutes of Health, who also supported MLS and AGL. M.F.M. acknowledges a doctoral scholarship from the Catalan Agency for Management of University and Research Grants [scholarship FI-SDUR EMC/3345/2020]. GU received two grants from the CNPq PPGSPAA program in GD modality (140312/2020-0) and SWE modality (201546/2020-5).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Atypical Cristae Morphology of Human Syncytiotrophoblast Mitochondria: ROLE FOR COMPLEX V*

Mitochondrial complexes I, III2, and IV from human cytotrophoblast and syncytiotrophoblast associate to form supercomplexes or respirasomes, with the following stoichiometries: I1:(III2)1 and I1:(III2)1–2:IV1–4. The content of respirasomes was similar in both cell types after isolating mitochondria. However, syncytiotrophoblast mitochondria possess low levels of dimeric complex V and do not have orthodox cristae morphology. In contrast, cytotrophoblast mitochondria show normal cristae morphology and a higher content of ATP synthase dimer. Consistent with the dimerizing role of the ATPase inhibitory protein (IF1) (García, J. J., Morales-Ríos, E., Cortés-Hernandez, P., and Rodríguez-Zavala, J. S. (2006) Biochemistry 45, 12695–12703), higher relative amounts of IF1 were observed in cytotrophoblast when compared with syncytiotrophoblast mitochondria. Therefore, there is a correlation between dimerization of complex V, IF1 expression, and the morphology of mitochondrial cristae in human placental mitochondria. The possible relationship between cristae architecture and the physiological function of the syncytiotrophoblast mitochondria is discussed