Invasive American Mink: Linking Pathogen Risk Between Domestic and Endangered Carnivores

Infectious diseases, in particular canine distemper virus (CDV), are an important threat to the viability of wild carnivore populations. CDV is thought to be transmitted by direct contact between individuals; therefore, the study of species interactions plays a pivotal role in understanding CDV tran...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:EcoHealth 2014-09, Vol.11 (3), p.409-419
Main Authors: Sepúlveda, Maximiliano A, Singer, Randall S, Silva-Rodríguez, Eduardo A, Eguren, Antonieta, Stowhas, Paulina, Pelican, Katherine
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal diseases
Animal Diseases - epidemiology
Animal Diseases - transmission
Animal Ecology
Animals
Animals, Wild
Aquatic mammals
Canine distemper virus
Canis familiaris
Carnivores
Chile - epidemiology
direct contact
Disease Outbreaks
Disease transmission
Distemper - epidemiology
Distemper - transmission
Distemper Virus, Canine
Dog Diseases - epidemiology
Dog Diseases - transmission
Dogs
Domestic animals
Ecosystems
Environmental Health
farms
Freshwater mammals
habitats
Health risks
hosts
Infectious diseases
Introduced species
Lontra
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Microbiology
Mink
Neovison vison
Nonnative species
Original Contribution
Otters
Pathogens
Pathology
Public Health
risk
Rivers
viability
Water and Health
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Summary:Infectious diseases, in particular canine distemper virus (CDV), are an important threat to the viability of wild carnivore populations. CDV is thought to be transmitted by direct contact between individuals; therefore, the study of species interactions plays a pivotal role in understanding CDV transmission dynamics. However, CDV often appears to move between populations that are ecologically isolated, possibly through bridge hosts that interact with both species. This study investigated how an introduced species could alter multihost interactions and act as a bridge host in a novel carnivore assemblage of domestic dogs (Canis familiaris), invasive American mink (Neovison vison), and threatened river otters (Lontra provocax) in southern Chile. We found that rural dogs interact with mink near farms whereas in riparian habitats, minks and river otters shared the same latrines with both species visiting sites frequently within time intervals well within CDV environmental persistence. No interactions were observed between dogs and otters at either location. Both dog and mink populations were serologically positive for CDV, making the pathogen transfer risk to otters a conservation concern. Altogether, introduced mink in this ecosystem have the potential to act as bridge hosts between domestic dogs and endangered carnivores.
ISSN:1612-9202
1612-9210
DOI:10.1007/s10393-014-0917-z