engleski

Monitoring and control of wildlife diseases in natural conditions - a model of deer fascioloidosis

Wildlife diseases became increasingly important as potential threat to biodiversity, livestock and human health. Differently to health management in captive environment, control of diseases in free-ranging populations is related to numerous specific factors. Here we present control of wildlife disease using deer fascioloidosis in Spačva basin as a three-step example (treatment, pathological and parasitological analysis, epidemiological analysis). Deer fascioloidosis is an important disease of both wild and domestic ruminants with potentially fatal outcome, reduced survival rate and ability to cause economic losses in deer management. Fascioloidosis is a parasitic disease caused, by to Europe, non-native trematode Fascioloides magna. It was detected in Croatia during 2001, in Baranja region. Subsequently, the disease spread through the eastern parts of Croatia involving all three deer species and mouflons. In order to control disease a monitoring and control programme was launched using triclabendazole as a drug of choice. Triclabendazole was administered via medicated baits, as a single ingestion dose (calculated at 60 mg/kg of body weight) during early spring, following the termination of the hunting season. Following treatment, livers and faeces of all shot animals were analysed, showing the prevalence of 36.42%. As a further step, epidemiological methods were applied to understand disease dynamics at the population level. For that we used regression models (negative binomial and logistic) and evaluation of environmental factors using GIS program. Model for pathological lesions suggested that likelihood of lesions was dependent on age (p=0.003). We did not find any locality or sex related significant differences. This example showed that observed area represent one epidemiological unit with favourable environmental factors for maintaining the disease. Such conditions have significant negative influence on therapeutic effect.

wildlife ; diseases ; control ; treatment ; fascioloidosis

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