Cohabitation of a Brucella melitensis infected Alpine ibex (Capra ibex) with domestic small ruminants in an enclosure in Gran Paradiso National Park, in Western Italian Alps
- 109 Downloads
- 3 Citations
Abstract
After the first report of Brucella melitensis infection from a 7-year-old alpine ibex (Capra ibex) buck living in Gran Paradiso National Park (GPNP), further studies demonstrated the presence of the infection in ibex and chamois. Considering that livestock herds keep on sharing pastures with more than 3,500 ibex and 9,000 chamois in the park, our aim was to demonstrate under controlled conditions the possibility of Brucella infection passing from wild ruminants to livestock. A 7-year-old male alpine ibex with clinical signs of brucellosis and serologically positive was released in a 5,000 m2 enclosure together with five goats and two sheep rams. Due to poor condition, ibex was suppressed at day 40, domestic ruminants stayed into the enclosure potentially contaminated by ibex for further 38 days. During this period, we had monitored our animals taking blood from domestic ruminants every 15 days and tested the serum to Rose Bengal agglutination test and Complement Fixation test. Domestic animals tested negative at serology at all sampling time and at isolation, while B. melitensis biovar 3 was isolated from ibex tissues. Our data show that transmission of infection from ibex to livestock is not easy. After 40 days of strict cohabitation and 38 days of permanence in an area where an infected ibex lives, no one of the domestic animals contracted infection. In spite of the limitation of our field trial, we have demonstrated that long direct and indirect contact between alpine ibex and domestic animals will not easily lead to an infection of the latter. Further investigations are needed to confirm our results and evaluate the effective risk of B. melitensis transmission from alpine ibex to livestock.
Keywords
Brucellosis Livestock Transmission Ibex Gran Paradiso National ParkNotes
Acknowledgements
We really want to thank the Gran Paradiso National Park and particularly the Game wardens for their help and assistance in field work. We want especially to thank the warden chief of the Orco valley Chabod Piero. This study was done by fund of the Italian Ministry of Health and ALCOTRA Interreg IIIA project. The capture, handling and euthanizing techniques complied with current Italian legislation.
References
- Alton GG, Jones ML, Angus RD, Verger JM (1988a) Techniques for the brucellosis laboratory. Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Paris, France, pp 13–61Google Scholar
- Alton GG, Jones ML, Angus RD, Verger JM (1988b) Techniques for the brucellosis laboratory. Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Paris, France, pp 82–113Google Scholar
- Bassano B, Ferroglio E (2002) Brucellosis in alpine ibex: epidemiological consideration based on a serosurvey. In: Proceedings of the III World Conference on Mountain Ungulate. Saragossa, Spain, pp 30–31Google Scholar
- Bouvier G, Burgisser H, Schnneider PA (1958) La brucellose du chamois. In: Fondation B, Galli Valerio (ed) Les maladies des ruminants sauvages de la Suisse. Lausanne, Suisse, pp 111–113Google Scholar
- Bricker B, Halling SM (1994) Differentation of Brucella abortus bv 1, 2 and 4, Brucella melitensis, Brucella ovis and Brucella suis bv 1 by PCR. J Clin Microbiol 32:2660–2666PubMedGoogle Scholar
- Corbel MJ, Brinley Morgan WJ (1984) Genus Brucella Meyer and Shaw 1920. In: Krieg NR, Holt JG (eds) Bergey’s manual of systematic bacteriology, vol 1. Williams &Wilkins, Baltimore, Maryland, pp 377–388Google Scholar
- Corbel MJ, Tolari F, Yadava VK (1988) Characterisation of phage lytic for smooth and non-smooth Brucella species. Res Vet Sci 44:45–49PubMedGoogle Scholar
- Davis DS (1990) Brucellosis in wildlife. In: Nielsen K, Dunkan JR (eds) Animal brucellosis. CRC Press, Boston, Massachusetts, pp 322–334Google Scholar
- Ferroglio E, Tolari F, Bollo E, Bassano B (1998) Isolation of Brucella melitensis from an Alpine Ibex. J Wildl Dis 34:400–402PubMedGoogle Scholar
- Ferroglio E, Gennero S, Rossi L, Tolari F (2003) Epidemiologia della brucellosi nel Camoscio alpino. J Mt Ecol 7:229–232Google Scholar
- Garin-Bastuji B, Oudar J, Richard Y, Gastellu J (1990) Isolation of Brucella melitensis biovar 3 from a Chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra) in the Southern French Alps. J Wildl Dis 26:116–118PubMedGoogle Scholar
- Garin-Bastuji B, Gerbier G, Verger Jm, Douzal Y, Grayon M, Thiebaud M, Moutou F (1993) La brucellose animale en France en 1992. Epidemiologie et Sante Animale 24:101–127Google Scholar
- Girard I, Bassano B, Von Hardenberg A, Adrados C, Janeau G (2004) Space use modalities of GPS-collared Alpine ibex (Capra ibex ibex) in Vanoise and Gran Paradiso national parks. 2nd International Conference on Alpinbe Ibex, Cogne, Italy, p 12Google Scholar
- Hars J, Garin-Bastuji B (2001) La brucelose a brucella suis biovar 2 en France. BIPAS 24:139–147Google Scholar
- Hoflechner-Poltl A, Hofer E, Awad-Masalmeh M, Muller M, Teineck T (2000) Tularämie und Brucellose bei Feldhasen und Füchsen in Österreich. Tierarztl Umsch 55:264–268Google Scholar
- Lamorgia V (2001) Interazione spaziale e trofica tra pecora e camoscio nel PNGN. Tesi di laurea in Scienze Naturali, Università di Torino, pp 119Google Scholar
- Nicoletti P (1980) The epidemiology of bovine brucellosis. Adv Vet Sci Comp Med 24:69–98PubMedGoogle Scholar
- Peracino V, Bassano B, Gauthier D (1996) Serological analysis in Alpine ungulates. Proceedings of the 2nd Symposium of the European Section Wildlife Disease Association, Wroclaw, Poland, p36Google Scholar
- Thorne ET (1982) Brucellosis. In: Thorne ET, Kingston N, Jolley WR, Bergstrom RC (eds) Diseases of wildlife in Wyoming. WyOming Game and Fish Department, Cheyenne, Wyoming, p 54Google Scholar