Non-invasive surveillance of shared pathogens in the Eurasian brown bear (Ursus arctos) human interface

Herrero García, Gloria; Barroso, Patricia; Dashti, Alejandro; González Barrio, David; Naves, Javier; Fernández Gil, Alberto; Ugarte Ruiz, María; Pérez Sancho, Marta; Royo, Luis José; Carmena, David; De Miguel, Arturo; García Rodríguez, Alberto; Gortázar, Christian; Domínguez Rodríguez, Lucas José; Balseiro, Ana

Non-invasive surveillance of shared pathogens in the Eurasian brown bear (Ursus arctos) human interface

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Official URL

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.onehlt.2024.100746

Publication date

2024

Publisher

Elsevier

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URI

https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/104232

Citation

Gloria Herrero-García, Patricia Barroso, Alejandro Dashti, David González-Barrio, Javier Naves, Alberto Fernández-Gil, María Ugarte-Ruiz, Marta Pérez-Sancho, Luis José Royo, David Carmena, Arturo de Miguel, Alberto García-Rodríguez, Christian Gortázar, Lucas Domínguez, Ana Balseiro, Non-invasive surveillance of shared pathogens in the Eurasian brown bear (Ursus arctos) human interface, One Health, Volume 18, 2024, 100746, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.onehlt.2024.100746.

Abstract

Multi-host communities are perfect scenarios for the emergence and spread of pathogens, threatening the recovery of endangered, isolated, or inbred populations, such as the brown bear (Ursus arctos) in northwestern Spain. The population recovery in recent years has forced bears to occupy highly anthropized areas, increasing their interaction with human and domestic animals, with potential consequences for global health. During 2022–2023 a survey of parasites, bacteria and viruses shared between wildlife, domestic animals and humans was performed in this population using non-invasive surveillance, i.e., bear fecal samples (n = 73) and sponge-based sampling of trees (n = 42; 14 rubbed trees and 28 control trees). Pathogen detection rates were defined as the percentage of qPCR or culture-positive samples. Generalized linear models were fitted to assess their relationship with environmental variables including dispersion of the human population, and percentage of agricultural and periurban habitats in a 6 km-buffer around each sample. Canine Adenovirus type 1 (45.2%), Giardia spp. (15.1%), Salmonella spp. (12.3%), and extended-spectrum-beta-lactamases (ESBL) Escherichia coli (1.4%) were identified in fecal samples. In contrast, only five sponges from three rubbed and two control trees resulted positive to E. coli (14.3%). The results suggest that several pathogens are common in the Cantabrian brown bear population and that anthropization of the territory modulates their prevalence and richness. The effective design of management programs for bear conservation will require a one-health approach, in which genetic analysis of non-invasive samples can be key tools for the sanitary surveillance at the wildlife-livestock-human interface.

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2023 Acuerdos transformativos CRUE