Investigation article published in One Health

May 3^rd, 2024

Multi-host communities are perfect scenarios for the emergence and spread of pathogens, threatening the recovery of endangered, isolated, or inbred populations, such as the brown bear (Ursus arctos) in northwestern Spain. The population recovery in recent years has forced bears to occupy highly anthropized areas, increasing their interaction with human and domestic animals, with potential consequences for global health. During 2022-2023 a survey of parasites, bacteria and viruses shared between wildlife, domestic animals and humans was performed in this population using non-invasive surveillance, i.e., bear fecal samples (n = 73) and sponge-based sampling of trees (n = 42; 14 rubbed trees and 28 control trees). Pathogen detection rates were defined as the percentage of qPCR or culture-positive samples. Generalized linear models were fitted to assess their relationship with environmental variables including dispersion of the human population, and percentage of agricultural and periurban habitats in a 6 km-buffer around each sample. Canine Adenovirus type 1 (45.2%), Giardia spp. (15.1%), Salmonella spp. (12.3%), and extended-spectrum-beta-lactamases (ESBL) Escherichia coli (1.4%) were identified in fecal samples. In contrast, only five sponges from three rubbed and two control trees resulted positive to E. coli (14.3%). The results suggest that several pathogens are common in the Cantabrian brown bear population and that anthropization of the territory modulates their prevalence and richness. The effective design of management programs for bear conservation will require a one-health approach, in which genetic analysis of non-invasive samples can be key tools for the sanitary surveillance at the wildlife-livestock-human interface

Herrero-Garcia G., Barroso P., Dashti A., Gonzalez-Barrio D., Naves J., Fernandez-Gil A., Ugarte-Ruiz M., Perez-Sancho M., Royo JL., Carmena D., de Miguel A., Garcia-Rodriguez A., Gortazar C., Dominguez L. and Balseiro A.

Non-invasive surveillance of shared pathogens in the Eurasian brown bear (Ursus arctos) human interface

Non-invasive surveillance of shared pathogens in the Eurasian brown bear (Ursus arctos) human interface

	Departamento de Sanidad Animal. Facultad de Veterinaria. Universidad de León.
	Servicio de Parasitología. Centro Nacional de Microbiología (CNM). Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII).
	Estación Biológica de Doñana. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC).
	Servicio de Zoonosis de Transmisión Alimentaria y Resistencia a Antimicrobianos (ZTA). Centro de Vigilancia Sanitaria Veterinaria (VISAVET). Universidad Complutense (UCM).
	Departamento de Sanidad Animal. Facultad de Veterinaria. Universidad Complutense (UCM).
	Universidad de Oviedo.
	Centro de Investigación de Enfermedades Infecciosas (CIBERINFEC). Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII).
	Sanidad y Biotecnología (SaBio). Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos (IREC). Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC). Universidad de Castilla La Mancha (UCLM). Gobierno de Castilla-La Mancha (JCCM).
	Departamento de Sanidad Animal. Instituto de Ganadería de Montaña. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC).
	Fundación Oso de Asturias.