Sarcoptic mange: An emerging threat to Chilean wild mammals?
Sarcoptic mange has been anecdotally reported in Chilean wildlife during the last decade. Although this disease can have devastating outcomes for biodiversity, there is no comprehensive assessment of this potential threat in Chile. Because the current capacity to monitor sarcoptic mange and other wi...
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2020-10-01
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doaj-5201e6522d54413b8bc7080a5f3c4ab72020-12-31T04:43:44ZengElsevierPerspectives in Ecology and Conservation2530-06442020-10-01184267276Sarcoptic mange: An emerging threat to Chilean wild mammals?Diego Montecino-Latorre0Constanza Napolitano1Cristóbal Briceño2Marcela M. Uhart3One Health Institute, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California Davis, California, USA; Corresponding author. Current address: Wildlife Conversation Society, Health Program, 2300 Southern Boulevard, Bronx, NY, USADepartamento de Ciencias Biológicas y Biodiversidad, Universidad de Los Lagos, Osorno, Chile; Instituto de Ecología y Biodiversidad, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, ChileConserlab, Departamento de Medicina Preventiva Animal, Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias y Pecuarias, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, ChileOne Health Institute, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California Davis, California, USASarcoptic mange has been anecdotally reported in Chilean wildlife during the last decade. Although this disease can have devastating outcomes for biodiversity, there is no comprehensive assessment of this potential threat in Chile. Because the current capacity to monitor sarcoptic mange and other wildlife diseases is limited in this country, we used abnormal alopecia to search for suspect cases across several sources of information to identify, to the extent available data allow, the location and temporal trends of wild mammals with this characteristic across Chile. We surveyed park rangers, examined rehabilitation center databases, and collated citizen and media reports. The information gathered suggests that observations of alopecic wild mammals, mainly foxes (Lycalopex sp.), their presence in the country, and the number of species fulfilling our case definition have increased over the last 15 years. Moreover, abnormally alopecic mammals are currently located broadly in Chile. We also confirmed the utility of abnormal alopecia to define a suspect sarcoptic mange case in the most commonly affected group, Lycalopex foxes. Our findings are highly concerning from a conservation perspective. We thus emphasize the need for an urgent surveillance and management plan for sarcoptic mange and other diseases that may be threatening Chilean biodiversity.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2530064420300560AlopeciaSarcoptic scabieiWildlifeChileProtected areasSurveillance |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Diego Montecino-Latorre Constanza Napolitano Cristóbal Briceño Marcela M. Uhart |
spellingShingle |
Diego Montecino-Latorre Constanza Napolitano Cristóbal Briceño Marcela M. Uhart Sarcoptic mange: An emerging threat to Chilean wild mammals? Perspectives in Ecology and Conservation Alopecia Sarcoptic scabiei Wildlife Chile Protected areas Surveillance |
author_facet |
Diego Montecino-Latorre Constanza Napolitano Cristóbal Briceño Marcela M. Uhart |
author_sort |
Diego Montecino-Latorre |
title |
Sarcoptic mange: An emerging threat to Chilean wild mammals? |
title_short |
Sarcoptic mange: An emerging threat to Chilean wild mammals? |
title_full |
Sarcoptic mange: An emerging threat to Chilean wild mammals? |
title_fullStr |
Sarcoptic mange: An emerging threat to Chilean wild mammals? |
title_full_unstemmed |
Sarcoptic mange: An emerging threat to Chilean wild mammals? |
title_sort |
sarcoptic mange: an emerging threat to chilean wild mammals? |
publisher |
Elsevier |
series |
Perspectives in Ecology and Conservation |
issn |
2530-0644 |
publishDate |
2020-10-01 |
description |
Sarcoptic mange has been anecdotally reported in Chilean wildlife during the last decade. Although this disease can have devastating outcomes for biodiversity, there is no comprehensive assessment of this potential threat in Chile. Because the current capacity to monitor sarcoptic mange and other wildlife diseases is limited in this country, we used abnormal alopecia to search for suspect cases across several sources of information to identify, to the extent available data allow, the location and temporal trends of wild mammals with this characteristic across Chile. We surveyed park rangers, examined rehabilitation center databases, and collated citizen and media reports. The information gathered suggests that observations of alopecic wild mammals, mainly foxes (Lycalopex sp.), their presence in the country, and the number of species fulfilling our case definition have increased over the last 15 years. Moreover, abnormally alopecic mammals are currently located broadly in Chile. We also confirmed the utility of abnormal alopecia to define a suspect sarcoptic mange case in the most commonly affected group, Lycalopex foxes. Our findings are highly concerning from a conservation perspective. We thus emphasize the need for an urgent surveillance and management plan for sarcoptic mange and other diseases that may be threatening Chilean biodiversity. |
topic |
Alopecia Sarcoptic scabiei Wildlife Chile Protected areas Surveillance |
url |
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2530064420300560 |
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