Publications by authors named "C Sousa Rouco"
is a vector-borne zoonotic bacterium that causes tularemia, a disease of great importance for animal and public health. Although wild lagomorphs are considered one of the major reservoirs of this bacterium, information about the circulation of in European wild rabbit () and Iberian hare () populations in Europe is still very limited. In Spain, is present in northern central regions, with recurrent outbreaks occurring annually.
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- Myxoma (MYXV) and rabbit hemorrhagic disease (RHDV) viruses are significant threats to European rabbits, which are now considered 'Endangered' in their native habitat.
- The study focused on evaluating the effectiveness of dried blood spots (DBS) for serological surveys of these viruses in European rabbits by comparing DBS to traditional serum samples.
- Results showed a high level of agreement between the two methods, with DBS demonstrating strong diagnostic sensitivity and perfect specificity for both MYXV and RHDV, confirming its viability for monitoring these diseases in the wild rabbit population.
To address urban turtle sampling challenges, we presented Hookless fishing with clip, a cost-effective method for sampling this important group. Effectiveness, biases and potential advantages were analysed in comparison to two commonly used methods (funnel trap and hand capture). Fieldwork was conducted between August and November/2021 in four areas in Brazil, using the three methods simultaneously.
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- The study investigates the exposure of European wild rabbits and Iberian hares to the parasite Sarcoptes scabiei in southern Spain, highlighting a lack of prior detailed research.
- Researchers collected serum samples from 464 wild rabbits and 132 Iberian hares over several hunting seasons, finding an overall seroprevalence of 15.9%, with higher rates in Iberian hares (31.1%) compared to wild rabbits (11.6%).
- Identified risk factors for exposure included species type, age (adults), and geographical area, with significant clusters of high seropositivity detected in western and central Andalusia, indicating the need for enhanced monitoring of this parasite in wild populations.
Ecological nutrition aims to unravel the extensive web of nutritional links that drives animals in their interactions with their ecological environments. Nutrition plays a key role in the success of European wild rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) and could be affected by the breeding status of the animals and reflected in the metabolome of this species. As nutritional needs are considerably increased during pregnancy and lactation, the main objective of this work was to determine how the breeding status (pregnant and lactating) of European wild rabbit does affects nutritional requirements and their metabolome (using targeted and untargeted metabolomics), aiming to find a useful biomarker of breeding status and for monitoring nutritional requirements.
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