Anthrax: A hidden threat to wildlife in the tropics

Date: August 2, 2017

Source: Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

Summary:

Anthrax, a disease so far not associated with tropical rain forests, is common in the Ivory Coast's Taï National Park and is posing a serious threat to wildlife there. The bacterium could soon even cause the extinction of local chimpanzee populations.

Read on  

Reindeer to be culled in Russia’s far north due to anthrax outbreak

Governor of the Yamal-Nenets region confirms cull after melting permafrost awakens ‘zombie infection’

Alec Luhn in Moscow

Sunday 9 October 2016 19.31 BST Last modified on Monday 10 October 2016 01.07 BST

 

A governor in Russia’s far north has said the reindeer population will be reduced by 100,000 after an anthrax outbreak, but scientists have said twice as many need to be culled.

Reindeer herding is an important industry and livelihood for indigenous peoples in the Yamal-Nenets region. Its governor, Dmitry Kobylkin, told state news agency RIA Novosti that about 100,000 reindeer would be culled this winter because overpopulation was straining a limited food supply and increasing the risk of anthrax infection.

 
An outbreak in Yamal-Nenets – the first since 1941 – killed a 12-year-old boy and more than 2,500 reindeer in July and August. Scientists and officials blamed the awakening of the “zombie infection” on abnormally hot temperatures caused by global climate change. 

Thawing of the permafrost soil can release the frozen bacteria.

“For [lack of fodder], some herder families take their animals to graze in restricted areas where there’s a high risk of Siberian plague infection,” Kobylkin said, using the Russian name for anthrax, a bacterial infection often transmitted through contaminated food or water.

Regional authorities will buy the reindeer to be culled and process the meat, he said. Officials have said reindeer meat exports could increase from 300 tonnes last year to 800 tonnes this year.

More than 750,000 reindeer live in the Yamal-Nenets region, even though the region’s pasture land can support only 386,000 reindeer without degrading, Vladimir Bogdanov, director of the Urals Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology, told Rossiyskaya Gazeta. At least 200,000 reindeer need to be culled, he said.

Read on 

A new pathogen in Africa causes anthrax-like disease in wild and domestic animals

Date: September 8, 2016

Source: PLOS

Anthrax is caused by Bacillus anthracis, a pathogen that causes potentially fatal disease in most mammals, including humans. A study published in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases reports that a related bacillus with distinct genetic and biological characteristics causes anthrax-like disease in chimps, gorillas, elephants, and goats from four different African countries. Increased surveillance for this pathogen is needed to evaluate its impact on animal and human health.

Bacillus anthracis and its two close relatives, Bacillus thuringiensis and Bacillus cereus, are spore-forming bacteria naturally found in soil throughout much of the world. Their ability to cause disease depends on so-called virulence factors, some of which are encoded on plasmids (smaller parts of genetic material that can relatively easily be exchanged between bacteria) rather than the single chromosome. B. anthracis contains two such plasmids called pXO1 and pXO2, and both are required for full virulence.

Fabian Leendertz, from the Robert Koch Institute in Berlin, Germany, and colleagues, had previously described an unusual B. cereus bacterium isolated from a sick chimpanzee in Ivory Coast. This isolate possessed both the pXO1 and pXO2 'anthrax' plasmids, but its chromosome was closely related to B. cereus and not to B. anthracis. Because the bacterium appeared to have evolved from a B. cereus strain independently from the classic B. anthracis strains and established a B. anthracis lifestyle, the researchers called it 'B. cereus biovar (bv) anthracis'.

Read on 

30 hippos killed by Anthrax in Kruger National Park

Anthrax outbreak affects hippos in the Kruger National Park

November 2012: The South African National Parks (SANParks) have revealed that the anthrax outbreak that started in late August in the north of the Kruger National Park (KNP) has claimed the lives of 30 hippopotamus in the Letaba and Olifants River. Post mortems results from some of the carcases, suggest they were infected by the bacteria.

Reynold Thakhuli, spokesman for SANParks said a total of 30 hippo carcases have been found up to now and Park Rangers are closely monitoring the situation. "Members of the public are urged to report any sightings to the nearest camp and not to touch the carcases. The State Veterinarians are busy examining six carcases that were found over the weekend and will issue the results as soon as they're available."

Spread by vultures
Anthrax is a highly infectious disease of animals caused by the bacterium Bacillus anthracis. "It is thought that the disease is spread mainly through vultures and blowflies. Vultures are immune against anthrax and they spread the disease by consuming contaminated meat from affected carcasses and then defecating in water bodies where they regularly drink or bath. The toxins released by the bacteria when it sporulates are also fatal to some species."

According to Thakhuli anthrax outbreaks are a natural occurrence in the northern Kruger National Park and occur more or less every 10 years, apparently related to the end of dry cycles. It usually occurs during the dry months of the year. Since 1960, eight major anthrax outbreaks have occurred in the KNP (1960, 1970, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1999, 2010 and 2012).

"Natural regulator"

It is also closely linked to population density - when certain species like kudu and hippo reach high densities then anthrax spreads more rapidly. The disease is also the only disease in KNP that needs to kill its host in order to propagate itself. In all the outbreaks before the disease naturally dissipates when the rains start and when animal densities decrease, so it can be considered a "natural regulator" of animal densities. The current outbreak has seen relatively low numbers of cases in relation to population sizes of species affected.

During the previous outbreak of 2010 in the Nxanatseni region it is estimated that approximately 2000 animals died.

"The Kruger National Park rangers are currently monitoring the situation on a daily basis to determine if they are more carcasses in the rivers," concludes Thakhuli.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/anthrax-hippos.html

Anthrax outbreak at Mana Pools

Wildlife dieing in Mana Pools

January 2012. 88 hippos, 45 buffaloes, 30 elephants and 2 kudu have been found dead in Mana Pools National Park. Tests confirm that the hippos died of anthrax but the cause of death of the other animals has not yet been confirmed. The carcasses of the dead animals are being burnt to prevent the spread of the disease. 

Anthrax
Anthrax commonly infects wild and domesticated herbivorous mammals that ingest or inhale the spores while grazing. Ingestion is thought to be the most common route by which herbivores contract anthrax. Carnivores living in the same environment may become infected by consuming infected animals. Diseased animals can spread anthrax to humans, either by direct contact (e.g., inoculation of infected blood to broken skin) or by consumption of a diseased animal's flesh. 

Courtesy of the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force