![]() ![]() © Martin Gilbert Future DirectionsĪs our understanding of disease exposure develops for these populations, our aim is to focus-in on those pathogens that represent the greatest threat to their viability as a step toward identifying approaches to disease control. ![]() Over time, this strategy will enable us to: 1) identify the pathogens that represent the greatest risks to local wild ungulates, 2) determine specific geographical areas where disease exposure is most intense, and 3) assess temporal trends in pathogen circulation.Īrgali sheep near campsite. This method stabilizes samples without the need for specialized equipment or refrigeration, and they can be reconstituted later in the laboratory to test for evidence of the animal’s exposure to a range of pathogens. Our low-tech solution to address this preserves blood by placing it on filter papers that then air dry- a technique that can be easily carried out by wildlife rangers when handling dead animals. Conventional approaches that require electricity for sample processing and bulky methods of cold storage are impractical in the high mountain passes. Assessing a population’s pathogen exposure requires blood samples that are used to detect antibodies released by the immune system to fight specific infections. We adopt novel approaches when collecting diagnostic samples from wildlife in remote and hard to reach areas. Low Tech Solutions to Remote Area Sampling Despite their complementary interests, these agencies have traditionally worked in isolation from each other, but these new partnerships contribute to each of their mandates and a more complete understanding of wildlife and health in these challenging and inaccessible environments. Duysheev of the Ministry of Education and Science, they gain access to expertise in disease diagnostics and advanced laboratory resources. By connecting them with veterinarians with the Kyrgyz Research Institute of Veterinary named after A. In Central Asia’s Kyrgyz Republic, we are working with rangers with the Department for Biodiversity, Conservation and Protected Areas of the State Agency of Environment and Forestry who are often the first to detect changes in the health of the wildlife they manage. © Martin Gilbert Forging New One Health PartnershipsĪnswering these questions requires the creation of new partnerships, combining distinct skills and expertise in ecology, wildlife management and veterinary medicine. Assessing how domestic sheep and goats contribute to disease ecology and their role (if any) in pathogen transmission to wildlife is also essential to the design of strategies to manage those pathogens of greatest concern to mountain ungulate populations. Understanding how these pathogens impact the viability of mountain ungulate populations requires us to piece together numerous threads of evidence, improving outbreak detection and diagnosis, assessing population exposure, and determining the outcome of infections including both overt mortality and more insidious effects like reduced breeding success. ![]() Interpreting the significance of outbreak reports is always a challenge, with many cases remaining undiagnosed (nevermind undetected) in these remote and inaccessible landscapes that often lack veterinary infrastructure. Reports of parasitic disease are also widespread, with wildlife managers observing sarcoptic mange (caused by a skin mite) annually in ibex throughout their range. Another important disease is contagious caprine pleuropneumonia, caused by Mycoplasma capricolum capripneumoniae, implicated in the death of at least 64 markhor in Tajikistan in 2010. This highly infectious pathogen leads to significant mortality, and has been spreading across Central Asia, with devastating wildlife outbreaks reported from Iran to Mongolia. Among the important infectious disease threats, Peste des Petits Ruminants virus is a particular cause for concern. © Martin Gilbert Disease Outbreaks and Mortalityĭisease outbreaks and heavy mortality are commonly reported for mountain ungulates across Central Asia.
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