Epidemiology of viral pathogens of free-ranging dogs and Indian foxes in a human-dominated landscape in central India

Abstract

There is an increasing concern that free-ranging domestic dog populations may serve as reservoirs of pathogens which may be transmitted to wildlife. We documented the prevalence of antibodies to three viral pathogens, canine parvovirus (CPV), canine distemper virus (CDV) and canine adenovirus (CAV), in free-ranging dog and sympatric Indian fox populations in and around the Great Indian Bustard Wildlife Sanctuary, in Maharashtra, central India. Serosurveillance data suggests that dogs could be playing a role in the maintenance and transmission of these pathogens in the fox population, but our findings also show that most dogs (adults) in the population are immune to these pathogens by virtue of earlier natural infection, and therefore, these individuals make little current or future contribution to viral maintenance. Vaccination of this cohort will neither greatly improve their collective immune status nor contribute to herd immunity. Our findings have potentially important implications for dog disease control programmes that propose using canine vaccination as a tool for conservation management of wild carnivore populations.

Aniruddha Belsare

Assistant Professor of Disease Ecology

My research interests include wildlife disease ecology, disease modeling and wildlife medicine.