Bacterial zoonoses impacts to conservation of wildlife populations: A global synthesis

Emerging infectious diseases have significantly increased in recent years;
approximately 60% of these emerging diseases are of zoonotic origin, and
of those, around 70% were identified to start with wild animals. To better
understand the impacts of zoonotic diseases on wildlife, there is a need
to identify the distribution and impact of zoonotic pathogens in wildlife,
particular those species with threatened populations. To investigate this
question, we constructed a zoonotic disease database identifying wildlife
hosts for each bacterial zoonotic disease and recorded clinical signs of
disease for each host-pathogen relationship if found. Species of least
concern were found to have a significantly higher prevalence and richness
of zoonotic bacterial diseases (n= 0.0608, x2= 5.898, p=0.01516). The
taxonomic level Order was found to be the best predictor for pathogen
richness, and the Artiodactyla and Carnivora contain a significantly
higher pathogen richness than other vertebrate Orders. Species with the
greatest pathogen richness include the wild boar (Sus scrofa, n=66),
Northern raccoon (Procyon lotor, n=16) and the red fox (Vulpes vulpes,
n=41). Our results indicate bacterial zoonoses are not likely to be a
driving factor of species population declines, and future zoonotic disease
surveillance efforts should target species in the Artiodactyla and
Carnivora families. The wild boar (Sus scrofa) in particular may be a good
candidate for zoonotic disease monitoring due to its high pathogen
richness, wide range, and large population. Understanding the impacts and
distribution of bacterial zoonoses in wildlife populations can help in
planning for future wildlife management efforts, particularly in species
of conservation concern and wildlife disease monitoring.