Domestic mammals facilitate tick-borne pathogen transmission networks in South African wildlife

dc.contributor.authorEspinaze, Marcela P.A.
dc.contributor.authorHellard, Eléonore
dc.contributor.authorHorak, Ivan Gerard
dc.contributor.authorCumming, Graeme S.
dc.date.accessioned2018-04-16T14:39:58Z
dc.date.issued2018-05
dc.description.abstractAs changes in the environment have brought wild and domestic animals into closer proximity, cross-species disease transmission has become a major concern in wildlife conservation. The worldwide impacts of tick-borne diseases require an understanding of pathogen transmission dynamics across different host species. Livestock are often kept near protected areas and frequently share habitat with wild animals. The influence of host community composition on tick-borne pathogen transmission remains poorly understood, making it difficult to determine whether sharing habitats with domestic livestock increases tick-borne disease in wildlife populations. We used network analysis to analyse 35,349 collections of 54 tick species in South Africa, treating hosts as nodes and shared tick species as links. Across all life stages, 93 mammalian species were connected by a total of 3105 links. Sheep, goats, and dogs were particularly important domestic species for network connectivity; and for wild animals, soft-skinned, smaller mammals such as the scrub hare. Although South African ticks exhibit some specialization on wild animals, network analysis showed that opportunistic feeding on domestic hosts can lead to shortened transmission pathways and facilitate pathogen spread between mammal species. Mammal species are highly interconnected through the tick species that they share, and domestic mammals significantly increase the risk of disease transmission. These findings support conservation measures that limit contact between domestic and wild mammals to reduce tick-borne disease transmission. Grazing in protected areas must be evaluated in light of disease risks to both domestic and wild animals, and potentially also to people.en_ZA
dc.description.departmentVeterinary Tropical Diseasesen_ZA
dc.description.embargo2019-05-30
dc.description.librarianhj2018en_ZA
dc.description.sponsorshipThe South African National Biodiversity Institute's SABIF (South African Biodiversity Information Facility) digitization program and the National Research Foundation of South Africa.en_ZA
dc.description.urihttp://www.elsevier.com/locate/bioconen_ZA
dc.identifier.citationEspinaze, M.P.A., Hellard, E., Horak, I.G. & Cumming, G.S. 2018, 'Domestic mammals facilitate tick-borne pathogen transmission networks in South African wildlife', Biological Conservation, vol. 221, pp. 228-236.en_ZA
dc.identifier.issn0006-3207 (print)
dc.identifier.issn1873-2917 (online)
dc.identifier.other10.1016/j.biocon.2018.03.017
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2263/64585
dc.language.isoenen_ZA
dc.publisherElsevieren_ZA
dc.rights© 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Notice : this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Biological Conservation. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. A definitive version was subsequently published in Biological Conservation, vol. 221, pp. 228-236, 2018. doi : 10.1016/j.biocon.2018.03.017.en_ZA
dc.subjectIxodid ticksen_ZA
dc.subjectDisease controlen_ZA
dc.subjectCross-species transmissionen_ZA
dc.subjectHost-parasite dynamicsen_ZA
dc.subjectDomestic animalsen_ZA
dc.subjectWild mammal speciesen_ZA
dc.subjectOvis ariesen_ZA
dc.subjectMammaliaen_ZA
dc.subjectLepus saxatilisen_ZA
dc.subjectCapra hircusIxodidaen_ZA
dc.subjectCanis familiarisen_ZA
dc.subjectAnimaliaen_ZA
dc.subjectSouth Africa (SA)en_ZA
dc.subjectWildlife managementen_ZA
dc.subjectWild populationen_ZA
dc.subjectProtected areas (PAs)en_ZA
dc.subjectPathogenen_ZA
dc.subjectParasite transmissionen_ZA
dc.subjectHost-parasite interactionen_ZA
dc.titleDomestic mammals facilitate tick-borne pathogen transmission networks in South African wildlifeen_ZA
dc.typePostprint Articleen_ZA

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