Ecological characterization of 175 low-pathogenicity avian influenza viruses isolated from wild birds in Mongolia, 2009-2013 and 2016-2018.

Background: Since 2005, highly pathogenic avian influenza A H5N1 viruses have spread from Asia worldwide, infecting poultry, humans and wild birds. Subsequently, global interest in avian influenza (AI) surveillance increased.

Objectives: Mongolia presents an opportunity to study viruses in wild birds because the country has very low densities of domestic poultry and supports large concentrations of migratory water birds.

Molecular epidemiology of peste des petits ruminants virus emergence in critically endangered Mongolian saiga antelope and other wild ungulates.

Peste des petits ruminants virus (PPRV) causes disease in domestic and wild ungulates, is the target of a Global Eradication Programme, and threatens biodiversity. Understanding the epidemiology and evolution of PPRV in wildlife is important but hampered by the paucity of wildlife-origin PPRV genomes. In this study, full PPRV genomes were generated from three Mongolian saiga antelope, one Siberian ibex, and one goitered gazelle from the 2016-2017 PPRV outbreak.

Eradication of Peste des Petits Ruminants Virus and the Wildlife-Livestock Interface.

Growing evidence suggests that multiple wildlife species can be infected with peste des petits ruminants virus (PPRV), with important consequences for the potential maintenance of PPRV in communities of susceptible hosts, and the threat that PPRV may pose to the conservation of wildlife populations and resilience of ecosystems. Significant knowledge gaps in the epidemiology of PPRV across the ruminant community (wildlife and domestic), and the understanding of infection in wildlife and other atypical host species groups (e.g.

Outbreak of Peste des Petits Ruminants among Critically Endangered Mongolian Saiga and Other Wild Ungulates, Mongolia, 2016-2017.

The 2016-2017 introduction of peste des petits ruminants virus (PPRV) into livestock in Mongolia was followed by mass mortality of the critically endangered Mongolian saiga antelope and other rare wild ungulates. To assess the nature and population effects of this outbreak among wild ungulates, we collected clinical, histopathologic, epidemiologic, and ecological evidence. Molecular characterization confirmed that the causative agent was PPRV lineage IV.

Absence of adaptive evolution is the main barrier against influenza emergence in horses in Asia despite frequent virus interspecies transmission from wild birds.

Virus ecology and evolution play a central role in disease emergence. However, their relative roles will vary depending on the viruses and ecosystems involved. We combined field studies, phylogenetics and experimental infections to document with unprecedented detail the stages that precede initial outbreaks during viral emergence in nature.

Moving in the Anthropocene: Global reductions in terrestrial mammalian movements.

Animal movement is fundamental for ecosystem functioning and species survival, yet the effects of the anthropogenic footprint on animal movements have not been estimated across species. Using a unique GPS-tracking database of 803 individuals across 57 species, we found that movements of mammals in areas with a comparatively high human footprint were on average one-half to one-third the extent of their movements in areas with a low human footprint. We attribute this reduction to behavioral changes of individual animals and to the exclusion of species with long-range movements from areas with higher human impact.

Highly pathogenic avian influenza virus among wild birds in Mongolia.

Mongolia combines a near absence of domestic poultry, with an abundance of migratory waterbirds, to create an ideal location to study the epidemiology of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAIV) in a purely wild bird system. Here we present the findings of active and passive surveillance for HPAIV subtype H5N1 in Mongolia from 2005-2011, together with the results of five outbreak investigations. In total eight HPAIV outbreaks were confirmed in Mongolia during this period.

Serosurveillance for foot-and-mouth disease in Mongolian gazelles (Procapra gutturosa) and livestock on the Eastern Steppe of Mongolia.

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is a highly contagious, viral disease that affects most ruminant and porcine species, and periodic outbreaks on Mongolia's Eastern Steppe affect Mongolian gazelles (Procapra gutturosa) and livestock. During 2005-08, we collected sera from 36 and 57 calf and adult gazelles, respectively, and from adult domestic animals sympatric with the gazelles, including 138 sheep (Ovis aries), 140 goats (Capra aegagrus hircus), 139 Bactrian camels (Camelus bactrianus), and 138 cattle (Bos taurus). Our goal was to determine whether the prevalence of the antibody to foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) in gazelles declined relative to previous estimates in the absence of FMD outbreaks.

Temporal-spatial epidemiology of foot-and-mouth disease outbreaks in Mongolia, 2000 - 2002.

Prior to 2000, foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) had not been observed in Mongolia since 1973; however, between April 2000 and July 2002, Mongolia reported 44 FMD outbreaks that affected cattle, sheep, goats, and camels. The objectives of this study were to describe the distributions of the 44 reported FMD outbreaks in Mongolia and to assess their spatial clustering and directions of movement. Official reports were collected to obtain the number and species of animals both affected and at risk, and the date and geographical coordinates of each outbreak.