Characterizing risk factors for infection of Mycobacterium bovis between wild pigs and domestic cattle from an outbreak response - California, 1961-1967.

In the United States (US), a national control program from bovine tuberculosis (bTB) has been successful at greatly reducing the incidence of Mycobacterium bovis infection in domestic cattle and mitigating exposure to humans. However, experience in many countries, including the US, has demonstrated that eradication of animal tuberculosis (TB) from wildlife can complicate disease control programs. Wild pigs may serve as an important maintenance species for TB, contributing to outbreaks in cattle and hampering disease control programs.

Coyote use of prairie dog colonies is most frequent in areas used by American badgers.

The consequences of intraguild predation on vulnerable subordinate species are an important consideration in the recovery of endangered species. In prairie ecosystems, coyotes () are the primary predator of endangered black-footed ferrets (; hereafter, ferrets) and presumably compete for prairie dog ( spp.) prey.

Operational lessons learned from simulating an elimination response to a transboundary animal disease in wild animals.

Transboundary animal disease (TAD) introductions can have myriad economic, ecological, and societal impacts. When TADs are introduced into wild species, rapid and intense control efforts to reduce wild animal host populations are sometimes needed to eliminate the disease and prevent endemicity and spillover to domestic animal populations. Yet, such intensive efforts are non-trivial, and the rarity of TAD introductions means that personnel rarely have direct experience with these types of operations.

Comparing efficiencies of population control methods for responding to introductions of transboundary animal diseases in wild pigs.

Introductions of transboundary animal diseases (TADs) into free-ranging wildlife can be difficult to control and devastating for domestic livestock trade. Combating a new TAD introduction in wildlife with an emergency response requires quickly limiting spread of the disease by intensely removing wild animals within a contiguous area. In the case of African swine fever virus (ASFv) in wild pigs (Sus scrofa), which has been spreading in many regions of the world, there is little information on the time- and cost-efficiency of methods for intensively and consistently culling wild pigs and recovering carcasses in an emergency response scenario.

Surveillance of Feral Swine (Sus scrofa) in the Western USA for Antibodies to Vesicular Stomatitis Virus, 2013-21.

Vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) outbreaks periodically occur in livestock in the western US and are thought to originate from outside this country. Feral swine (Sus scrofa) have been identified as an amplifying host for vesicular stomatitis New Jersey virus (VSNJV) and have been used to better understand the epidemiology of this virus through serosurveillance. This study aimed to determine if antibodies to vesicular stomatitis Indiana virus (VSIV) and VSNJV were present in feral swine in the western US and to determine if seropositive animals were associated with areas of previously detected VSV in livestock.

Reemerging/Notifiable Diseases to Watch.

Reemerging and notifiable diseases of cattle and bison continue to pose potential risks to their health and lives and affecting production and the livelihoods of producers. It is essential to understand the clinical presentation of these diseases to watch for possible incursions and infections and to immediately report your suspicions to your State and Federal Animal Health Officials. Three of these reemerging and notifiable diseases of cattle and bison, malignant catarrhal fever, bluetongue virus, and New World screwworm, are presented in this article for increased awareness to consider as a differential if examinations present suggestive clinical signs.

Vesicular Stomatitis Virus.

Vesicular stomatitis (VS) is a vector-borne livestock disease caused by either VS New Jersey virus or VS Indiana virus. The disease circulates endemically in northern South America, Central America, and Mexico and only occasionally causes outbreaks in the United States. During the past 20 years, VS outbreaks in the southwestern and Rocky Mountain regions occurred periodically with incursion years followed by virus overwintering and subsequent expansion outbreak years.

Effects of Pregnancy Prevention on Brucella abortus Shedding in American bison (Bison bison).

Products of parturition are the predominant source of Brucella abortus for transmission in bison (Bison bison). Our objective was to assess whether preventing pregnancy in Brucella-seropositive bison reduced B. abortus shedding.

Prairie dog responses to vector control and vaccination during an initial invasion.

We evaluated the invasion of plague bacteria into a population of black-tailed prairie dogs (; BTPDs) in South Dakota. We aimed to ascertain if invaded slowly or rapidly, and to determine if vector (flea) control or vaccination of BTPDs assisted in increasing survival rates. We sampled BTPDs in 2007 (before documentation), 2008 (year of confirmed invasion), and 2009 (after invasion).

Individual-level patterns of resource selection do not predict hotspots of contact.

Contact among animals is crucial for various ecological processes, including social behaviors, disease transmission, and predator-prey interactions. However, the distribution of contact events across time and space is heterogeneous, influenced by environmental factors and biological purposes. Previous studies have assumed that areas with abundant resources and preferred habitats attract more individuals and, therefore, lead to more contact.

Comparison of Ketamine-Xylazine, Butorphanol-Azaperone-Medetomidine, and Nalbuphine-Medetomidine-Azaperone for Raccoon (Procyon lotor) Immobilization.

Raccoons (Procyon lotor) are frequently handled using chemical immobilization in North America for management and research. In a controlled environment, we compared three drug combinations: ketamine-xylazine (KX), butorphanol-azaperone-medetomidine (BAM), and nalbuphine-medetomidine-azaperone (NalMed-A) for raccoon immobilization. In crossover comparisons, raccoons received a mean of the following: 8.

High N availability decreases N uptake and yield under limited water availability in maize.

Water and nitrogen (N) are the most limiting factors to plant productivity globally, but we lack a critical understanding of how water availability impacts N dynamics in agricultural systems. Plant N requirements are particularly uncertain when water is limited because of the interactive effect of water and N on plant growth, N demand, and plant uptake. We investigated impacts of N application and water availability on plant growth and N movement, including above and belowground growth, water productivity, N productivity, N uptake, N recovery, and greenhouse gas emissions within a semi-arid system in northeastern Colorado, USA.

The devil you know and the devil you don't: current status and challenges of bovine tuberculosis eradication in the United States.

Having entered into its second century, the eradication program for bovine tuberculosis (bTB, caused by Mycobacterium bovis) in the United States of America occupies a position both enviable and daunting. Excepting four counties in Michigan comprising only 6109 km (0.06% of US land area) classified as Modified Accredited, as of April 2022 the entire country was considered Accredited Free of bTB by the US Department of Agriculture for cattle and bison.

A retrospective assessment of fuel break effectiveness for containing rangeland wildfires in the sagebrush biome.

Escalated wildfire activity within the western U.S. has widespread societal impacts and long-term consequences for the imperiled sagebrush (Artemisia spp.

Habitat quality influences trade-offs in animal movement along the exploration-exploitation continuum.

To successfully establish itself in a novel environment, an animal must make an inherent trade-off between knowledge accumulation and exploitation of knowledge gained (i.e., the exploration-exploitation dilemma).

Shifting social-ecological fire regimes explain increasing structure loss from Western wildfires.

Structure loss is an acute, costly impact of the wildfire crisis in the western conterminous United States ("West"), motivating the need to understand recent trends and causes. We document a 246% rise in West-wide structure loss from wildfires between 1999-2009 and 2010-2020, driven strongly by events in 2017, 2018, and 2020. Increased structure loss was not due to increased area burned alone.

Estimating parasite infrapopulation size given imperfect detection: Proof-of-concept with ectoparasitic fleas on prairie dogs.

Parasite infrapopulation size - the population of parasites affecting a single host - is a central metric in parasitology. However, parasites are small and elusive such that imperfect detection is expected. Repeated sampling of parasites during primary sampling occasions (e.

Vesicular Stomatitis Virus.

Vesicular stomatitis (VS) is a vector-borne livestock disease caused by vesicular stomatitis New Jersey virus (VSNJV) or vesicular stomatitis Indiana virus (VSIV). The disease circulates endemically in northern South America, Central America, and Mexico and only occasionally causes outbreaks in the United States. Over the past 20 years, VS outbreaks in the southwestern and Rocky Mountain regions occurred periodically with incursion years followed by virus overwintering and subsequent expansion outbreak years.

EVALUATION OF THE EFFECT OF HYDRATED LIME ON THE SCAVENGING OF FERAL SWINE (SUS SCROFA) CARCASSES AND IMPLICATIONS FOR MANAGING CARCASS-BASED TRANSMISSION OF AFRICAN SWINE FEVER VIRUS.

African swine fever (ASF) is a devastating hemorrhagic disease marked by extensive morbidity and mortality in infected swine. The recent global movement of African swine fever virus (ASFV) in domestic and wild swine (Sus scrofa) populations has initiated preparedness and response planning activities within many ASF-free countries. Within the US, feral swine are of utmost concern because they are susceptible to infection, are wide-spread, and are known to interact with domestic swine populations.

LETHAL EFFECTS ON FLEA LARVAE OF FIPRONIL IN HOST FECES: POTENTIAL BENEFITS FOR PLAGUE MITIGATION.

Plague, caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, is a zoonotic disease of mammalian hosts and flea vectors. Fipronil baits have been used to suppress adult fleas for plague mitigation. The degree and duration of flea control may increase if fipronil also kills other stages in the flea life cycle.

FLEA CONTROL ON PRAIRIE DOGS (CYNOMYS SPP.) WITH FIPRONIL BAIT PELLETS: POTENTIAL PLAGUE MITIGATION TOOL FOR RAPID FIELD APPLICATION AND WILDLIFE CONSERVATION.

Sylvatic plague is a widespread, primarily flea-vectored disease in western North America. Because plague is highly lethal to endangered black-footed ferrets (Mustela nigripes, BFFs) and the prairie dogs (Cynomys spp., PDs) on which BFFs depend for habitat and prey, minimizing the impacts of plague is a priority at BFF reintroduction sites.

Interaction between anti-tick vaccine and a macrocyclic lactone improves acaricidal efficacy against Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus (Canestrini) (Acari: Ixodidae) in experimentally infested cattle.

The southern cattle fever tick (SCFT) Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus, is considered the most important ectoparasite of livestock in the world because of high financial losses associated with direct feeding and transmission of the hemoparasites Babesia bovis, B. bigemina, and Anaplasma marginale. Unfortunately, SCFT in many parts of the world have evolved resistance to all market-available pesticides thus driving development of new control technologies.