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Ecohealth and One Health Research Sharing in Japan

The Asia Pacific is the world most dynamic region thanks to its rapid economic growth. However, the region is also facing profound challenges such as emerging infectious diseases, food insecurity, anti-microbial resistance, and climate change. With growing immigrants and booming in cross-national trading, these health-related issues rise concerns at the regional level which need to be tackled through North-South cooperation.

System thinking approach to health, such as One Health and Ecohealth, recognizes the linkage among human, animal and environmental health and encourages the global cooperation in tackling with those challenges. These research approaches have been promoted globally and especially in Southeast Asia which is considered the hot spot for infectious and zoonotic diseases in Asia Pacific region.

On 9 February 2018, a group of researchers from Hanoi University of Public Health (HUPH) and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) shared their works in doing One Health and Ecohealth research through a half-day seminar at the Rakuno Gakuen University (RGU) in Hokkaido, Japan. The content included a preview of ecohealth research in South East Asia, an introduction of One Health core competencies and curriculum development in Southeast Asia and Vietnam and a sharing on One Health and Ecohealth approach in food safety research in Southeast Asia. The seminar was hosted by Prof. Kohei Makita from the RGU and its presenters were Dr. Nguyen Viet Hung – Regional Representative for East and Southeast Asia of the ILRI, Dr. Pham Duc Phuc – Coordinator of Vietnam One Health University Network and Deputy Director of Center for Public Health and Ecosystem Research of the HUPH, and Dr. Fred Unger – Senior Scientist of the ILRI. Both ILRI and HUPH have had the long-term collaboration with the RGU. This was an attempt to share experiences, lessons learned, and examples in transdisciplinary research from the Southeast Asian context which could enrich the understanding of students from both veterinary medicine and public health in dealing with global issues of human and animal health.

The research group received a warm welcome from the president of the RGU (Photo credit: Hung Nguyen-Viet/ILRI Vietnam)

Presenters and students from the RGU at the seminar (Photo credit: Hung Nguyen-Viet/ILRI Vietnam)

Dr. Pham Duc Phuc presented his experiences in One Health curriculum development in universities in Vietnam (Photo credit: Hung Nguyen-Viet/ILRI Vietnam)

Dr. Fred Unger with presentation on One Health and Ecohealth application in research on food safety (Photo credit: Hung Nguyen-Viet/ILRI Vietnam)

Dr. Nguyen Viet Hung shared his work on Ecohealth in Southeast Asia, outlining achievements and challenges of the approach over the last 10 years and future outlook of the approach in the region (Photo credit: Hung Nguyen-Viet/ILRI Vietnam)

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GDRI Ecosystem Health and Environmental Disease Ecology

natural habitat of the endemic black-and-white snub-nosed monkey in the LaoJun Shan, Yunnan, China, at 3500m alt

The GDRI Ecosystem health and environmental disease ecology (GDRI EHEDE) program (http://gdri-ehede.univ-fcomte.fr) was created in 2013. Supported by the French CNRS,  its objective is to promote exchanges and bring better legibility to collaborative research in Asia, Europe and North America, linking ecosystem health (e.g. the long-term sustainability of ecological processes and the integrity of ecosystem services) and disease ecology (e.g. the processes by which diseases can sustain or be controlled in a given ecosystem).

It is based on the principles of EcoHealth and aims to use the momentum that has been gained by fruitful cooperation between European and Asian researchers for more than 20 years to move ahead and develop conditions where researcher in conservation biology, population ecology, human and animal health can meet, develop their own research, exchange and cooperate in a multi-disciplinary framework. We consider it essential to develop parallel paths, bridges and sustainable long-term interactions between disciplines that can contribute to ecohealth studies. This program brings together researchers from Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, United Kingdom.

Main research issues:

  • Ecology of Cestode transmission in Asia, Europe and North America. Cestode zoonoses (Echinococcoses, Taeniases, Cysticercoses) are neglected zoonotic diseases which are highly endemic in western China, Central Asia and Europe and there is indication of emergence (or increased awareness ?) of multilocularis in North America. The life-cycle of those diseases ranges from merely sylvatic to merely domestic and offers unique opportunities to understand, in a systems approach, how anthropogenic human disturbance of ecosystems leads to transmission re-enforcement, sustained stability or to extinction in various conditions.
  • Wildlife ecology and ecosystem health. Here we focus on wildlife human conflicts such as those triggered by small mammal population surges (potentially resulting in increased parasite transmission) as a consequence of landscape and agricultural practice alterations, conservation of species such as the black and white snub-nosed monkey in a context of global warming and increasing agricultural encroachment in pristine high altitude forest habitats, management of increasing Asian elephant populations in Yunnan in a mosaic of forest and intensive agriculture.
  • Permanent workshop on adaptive monitoring, data management and modelling. Environmental sciences and ecology depend increasingly on long-term monitoring of ecosystems. This is also the case for public health as well as for conservation issues where it is also crucial to record disease events, population dynamics and history for the long term and on multiple spatial and temporal scales. Here we share experience in long term multi-disciplinary study design and adaptive monitoring in the field of ecosystem health and environmental diseases ecology. The objective is to harness participants for organising adaptive monitoring programmes in complex systems and manage data on the long term. Moreover, The GDRI EHEDE focusing on integrated systemic approaches to health (ecosystem, animal, human) and their practical applications has a special concern about spatially explicit and multiscale modelling.

The GDRI EHEDE benefits from the infrastructures of ILTER-France, especially the Zone atelier Arc jurassien (http://zaaj.univ-fcomte.fr/?lang=en) and from collaborations with various partners in Western China and Yunnan (Public and Animal Health authorities, Forest services, National Parks, Reserves, etc.)

Members of the IAEH are warmly welcome to contact any member of the GDRI EHEDE for more information or collaboration:

News and events are frequently updated on the GDRI EHEDE website http://gdri-ehede.univ-fcomte.fr

 

[author][author_info]Patrick Giraudoux – Professor of Ecology at the Chrono-environment department of the University of Bourgogne Franche-Comté/ CNRS and senior member of the Institut Universitaire de France (https://chrono-environnement.univ-fcomte.fr/spip.php?article232&lang=en). He coordinates the Zone atelier Arc jurassien (http://zaaj.univ-fcomte.fr/?lang=en) and the GDRI Ecosystem Health and Environmental Disease Ecology (http://gdri-ehede.univ-fcomte.fr). He is the foreign director of the Wildlife Management and Ecosystem Health department at the Yunnan University of Finance and Economics, Kunming, China. He is a landscape ecologist working on small mammal population ecology, Echinococcus multilocularis transmission and conservation issues. His study fields are mostly mountainous areas of Europe and Western China.[/author_info] [/author] Joe Gilliam Authentic Jersey

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FBLI Final Research Workshops and Media Briefing

Kunming, China. September 19-20, 2016 – Key partners of the Field Building Leadership Initiative (FBLI), including more than 30 researchers and policy makers from 4 FBLI participating countries (Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and China) assembled at the Grand Park Hotel in Kunming, China. The events were hosted by Kunming Medical University in collaboration with the FBLI-Coordinating Unit with the aim to share and synthesize main findings of country research projects; address the implications of main findings on policy in the region; and share country main lessons of FBLI research projects.

Participants of the meeting

In the afternoon on 20 September 2016, the FBLI organized a media briefing session where representatives from 4 media organizations in China joined the session. The context of agricultural intensification and health in the region was presented. Four lead researchers from each of the country project teams presented their work to the media and there were opportunities for questions and answers. Findings from these studies are crucial to the development of national and regional agricultural development strategies in each country as well as joint strategy of region as a whole.

Welcome speech by Professor Li Yan, Vice President of KMU

FBLI media event in Kunming 20 September 2016

Following the workshop and media briefing, on September 21, 2016, the FBLI regional core group leaders met at Kunming Medical University to discuss the up-coming final FBLI technical report, along with next steps after the FBLI.

FBLI is a five year program, funded by the Canadian International Development Research Center, which focuses on solving human health problems associated with agricultural intensification and other challenges in SEA and China, where, agricultural intensification has and is further expected to have profound implications for ecosystems and health. More than 20 partner institutions representing a range of expertise and sectors are participating in FBLI research component.

Further regional and national dissemination of FBLI finding

A regional policy brief entitled “Health and environmental impact of agricultural intensification: Translating Ecohealth program-derived knowledge into practice” from FBLI has been published (link here) and is being disseminated to targeted audience.

Participant of FBFI finding dissemination in Hue city 20 September 2016

In Vietnam, VPHA together with FBLI Coordinating Unit and Health and Agriculture bodies of Hue province organized a workshop to disseminate FBLI results as well as discuss the link of Ecohealth and One Health. The news of this event can be found here. It is expected that FBLI findings will be disseminated in various channels in different countries and the region.

Visit FBLI website for further information www.ecohealthasia.net

The final report of FBLI project can be download here 

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Transdisciplinary dialogue among Maya communities on zoonoses

Maya stakeholder meeting_2016

photo by Monica Berger Gonzalez

Together with Prof. Brigit Obrist, Dept. of Anthroplogy, University of Basel and partners from the Universita del Valle, Guatemala, Jakob Zinsstag, president of IAEH, visited a new project site in Peten, Guatemala.

The project aims to implement a transdisciplinary dialogue on surveillance and control of zoonoses among Maya communities.

 

 

[author]  [author_info]Jakob Zinsstag is deputy head of the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute and President of the IAEH. He is interested in the health of mobile pastoralists and zoonoses control in Africa and Asia. [/author_info] [/author] John Stallworth Womens Jersey

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The BeneFISHiary Mobile App for Bermuda: Linking food safety to environmental sustainability in a consumer-friendly way

Recipient of a 2016 IAEH Small Grant Award

Many media stories have supported claims about both the risks and benefits of fish consumption. This leads to much interest, but also some confusion regarding whether it’s safe to consume fish – especially for pregnant women and for children.

BeneFISHiary is a mobile “app” that helps users make informed decisions about the fish they eat. Developed for Bermudians, who are strongly connected to the marine environment that surrounds them, BeneFISHiary provides the best evidence-based information available on local and imported fish regarding their average mercury and nutrient (omega-3 fatty acids and selenium) concentrations. Users can also learn more on the environmental sustainability of various fish species found in the seas that surround Bermuda.

The creators of this app are a multidisciplinary team including an epidemiologist from the University of Hawai‘i (Dr. Catherine Pirkle), an anthropologist and conservationist (Dr. Philippe Rouja), and a designer who specializes in creating interactive stories powered by technologies (Mr. Tidjane Tall). The inspiration for BeneFISHiary originated from concerns about communication gaps between the Bermuda Department of Health, healthcareproviders on the islands, and pregnant women.

Briefly, research in the early 2000s that was initiated by the team’s late mentor- Dr. Eric Dewailly- found elevated blood concentrations of mercury in Bermudian pregnant women. These levels were high enough to adversely affect the health and development of the children exposed during pregnancy. The researchers found that locally harvested fish species were mostly responsible for the elevated mercury levels. Subsequently, the team sampled several hundred local fish species to measure their mercury concentrations, as well as the beneficial nutrients of omega-3 fatty acids and selenium. The later two nutrients may counteract some of the adverse consequents of mercury exposure. The researchers then created Bermuda-specific fish consumption guidelines that were shared with the Bermuda Department of Health and healthcare providers serving pregnant women. These guidelines highlighted a multitude of local fish species that were low in mercury and high in omega-3 fatty acids and thus safe to eat. These guidelines specifically aimed to avoid scaring women away from fish during pregnancy by providing nuanced information that was species-specific. However, there were communication difficulties and the risks of fish consumption were overemphasized.

In the years following the dissemination of these guidelines, blood mercury concentrations in Bermudian pregnant women dropped five-fold. While this drop was a public health success, there were concerns that overall fish intake was falling. In 2013, Dr. Pirkle and Dr. Rouja conducted a study examining public health messaging about fish consumption during pregnancy. Their work demonstrated that healthcare providers and the Internet were the primary sources of information about fish consumption during pregnancy and that pregnant women and their providers were confused about which fish should or should not be consumed during pregnancy. Some healthcare providers were counseling pregnant women to reduce fish consumption to no more than two servings per week, even though many local fish species could be consumed without restriction. Unfortunately, some of the messages provided by local healthcare professionals may have been depriving pregnant women in Bermuda of essential nutrients found in fish that our important to optimal child development.

Thus, to assist providers and pregnant women on the islands, we created BeneFISHiary. With this mobile app, users can search local species and obtain the most recent information about average mercury concentrations, as well as healthy nutrients. Moreover, the app contains species-specific sustainability details, given concerns about overfishing in the Atlantic. It is beautifully illustrated, user-friendly, and even contains tasting notes for users curious to try new fish in their cooking. The creators of this app hope to scale-it up to other communities with strong local ties to the ocean. To try BeneFISHiary, download it from your local app store or visit: http://benefishiary.com.

 

[author] [author_info]

Catherine M. Pirkle  |  cmpirkle@hawaii.edu

Dr. Pirkle is an epidemiologist whose interests center on improving the health and well-being of pregnant women and young children around the world. Her activities strive to improve both provider and patient knowledge on the health risks associated with mercury from diets rich in fish and other seafood, as well as balance these with the nutritional benefits that can come with these foods. Finally, she is deeply concerned about the state of the planet’s oceans, which are being overfished at an extraordinary rate, and hopes that her work can better inform consumers about the sustainability of the foods they eat.

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Biodiversity and Disease Emergence: Brazil case study

Land – use change in Brazil is a clear threat to biodiversity. We conducted project activities in two regions of Brazil: the Atlantic Forest and the Brazilian Amazon. Along with University of São Paulo and EcoHealth Alliance our team investigate the mechanisms underlying disease emergence by assessing the impacts of land use change, the types and degrees of human – wildlife contact, and viral diversity assessing bat host population. The team was composed by veterinarians, epidemiologists, social scientists and ecologists. In the Atlantic Forest, we worked in Pontal do Paranapanema. This area is located in the extreme western part of the Atlantic Forest in Sa?o Paulo State and is one of the most threatened biodiversity hotspots in the world (Myers, et al. 2000).

The process of forest fragmentation in the region is relatively recent beginning about 50 years ago, but only 17% of the original biome remains in a matrix composed mainly of pastures and sugar cane plantations. The Forest was replaced by farms, and more recently, with Landless Workers Movement become a matrix of small properties (10 ha ) along with farms. Therefore, we have important forest patches and a State Park – Morro do Diabo under high human pressure, posing many kinds of threats – hunting, pesticides and deforestation.

Despite its environmental importance, the park and the Forest patches are under intense anthropic pressure, changing the natural cycles of disease.

In the Brazilian Amazon, we faced a different dynamic, were the deforestation process is on going, and the human – animal contact has a different interaction from Brazilian Atlantic Forest. The information generated with this project will give a better understanding of human-animal contact, as well as how fragmentation influences host diversity and viral diversity. These information are critical to understand how zoonotic infections emerge and spread.

 

[author]

Alessandra Nava  |  nava@ecohealthalliance.org

For a decade, I have dedicated my life to the field of conservation medicine, working with sentinel species such as jaguars and peccaries. Landscape change and human development along with a sustainable relation along wildlife were my focus of study. These experiences led me to a career that focuses on the interconnectivity of humans, wildlife, and ecosystems. From 2008 my team work with active surveillance for emergent diseases in Brazilian Amazon forest and Atlantic Forest, sampling bats, rodents and primates, and measuring the types of contact that human populations have with wildlife in these different ecosystems. [/author] DeMarcus Ware Jersey

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Advancing Ecohealth in Southeast Asia

Intensification of crop and livestock production can improve food, nutrition, and income security; however, without sustainable resource management, intensification can also lead to increased agricultural-related health risks, environmental degradation, and biodiversity loss. This is especially true in Southeast Asia, a region facing rapid economic growth. To address this complex challenge, a better understand of the interactions between agricultural practices, human health, and ecosystems are required.

The Field Building Leadership Initiative (FBLI), supported by IDRC, aims to explore linkages between intensive agricultural practices and human health in Southeast Asia.Developed jointly by research centres in China, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam, and launched in 2012, this five-year initiative allows researchers and their partners to carry out research, capacity building, policy advocacy and networking to inform agricultural practice and policy. Generating scientific evidence can help mitigate health risks while maintaining the socio-economic advantages of agricultural intensification.

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Building regional research

The FBLI’s research process is guided by Ecohealth principles including transdisciplinarity, participation, social and gender equity, and knowledge-to-action. The FBLI team, working with stakeholders from the onset of research for over three years, have generated new knowledge and developed interventions to promote sustainable agricultural practices. As agriculture is an important source for livelihoods in the region, careful consideration was given towards exploring economic benefits associated with changing practices, as well as gender and social equity, and empowerment of vulnerable groups.

Four large research projects involving local and national stakeholders are currently being implemented:

China: In Yuanmou County, Yunnan province, researchers and stakeholders are investigating the impact of chemical pesticides used for vegetable and fruit production on the health of farmers and ecosystems. Pesticide residues were detected in vegetable and fruit samples, soil and water samples, and urine samples of adults and children. To improve the knowledge of farmers on risks of pesticide use and promote safe pesticide use, innovative street plays in six project villages were performed. Further, locally designed calendars and posters were distributed widely in the project site, reaching about 5,000 people. This research also revealed that despite the increase of large-scale vegetable and fruit plantations, agricultural worker’s occupational health was not adequately addressed by current health care policies and services. Researchers are working with these groups to advocate for addressing occupational health risks in healthcare agendas.

Vietnam: In Ha Nam province, the human health risks from exposure to biogas wastewater from pig farms are being explored. Biogas wastewater samples were found positive for four pathogens harmful to humans and exceeded national standards of wastewater. Health risk perceptions and practices of biogas use in the community were also assessed. As biogas systems are a common method to manage animal waste in Vietnam, researchers are implementing a set of interventions to promote good sanitation practices in the study area. Communication tools including booklets and flyers with information on how to best use the biogas have been distributed to 72 farms in the community. Key messages were also promoted in the community’s traditional regulation document “H??ng ??c”.

Thailand: Rubber plantations are rapidly expanding in Thailand and Southeast Asia leading to deforestation, loss of biodiversity, influx of labour workers, and changes in livelihoods. Research conducted in several districts of Chachoengsao province have showed a direct correlation between crop expansion and increased risk of vector-borne diseases (e.g., dengue, chikungunya and malaria) especially among rubber workers. An evaluation of 109 rubber plantations revealed biological and chemical contaminants in groundwater and other natural reservoirs due to heavy use of fertilizers and herbicides. Through collaborating with migrant workers, crop owners, health care providers, and other government officials, the team is developing intervention tools and strategies to mitigate health risks associated with rubber plantations.

Indonesia: Small scale dairy farms are important sources of income for farmers in several districts of Pangalengan, West Java. By applying an Ecohealth approach, researchers and farmers worked together to implement an intervention that converts farm waste into herbal feed supplements, worm casting, earthworm extract, and fertilizers to help support human and environmental health, as well as farmers’ income. These products have been lab and field tested, and are currently being used by livestock and crop farmers beyond Pangalengan. A business incubator has been formed to facilitate product commercialization. These products were used by over 230 farmers, and discussions with government officials are ongoing to promote eco-friendly agricultural products, allowing for sustained benefits associated with these interventions.

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Sustaining Ecohealth practice

The FBLI’s capacity building supports the development of sustainable cohorts of Ecohealth practitioners and researchers. Ecohealth curricula have been integrated in four universities in Southeast Asia and a degree program in Ecohealth is currently being developed at Mahidol University in Thailand. The Future Leader Program, an annual program, aims to build leadership skills, global perspectives, and effective multi-sectoral collaboration of multidisciplinary professional groups. Since 2014, over 200 participants from ten Asian countries have participated in the Future Leader Program.

The integration of FBLI research results into agricultural management practices is testimony of the rigorous research efforts and productive engagement with relevant stakeholders. The FBLI also supports policy advocacy, for example through forming policy alliance groups in member countries consisting of mid-level policy makers, senior FBLI researchers and representatives from other regional networks. Future outcomes of FBLI will continue to strengthen the emerging field of Ecohealth research and practice, for the mitigation of health risks associated with agricultural intensification, while maintaining benefits.

For more information, please visit: www.ecohealthasia.net

 

[author]

Steven Lam |  lams@uoguelph.ca

Steven is the Knowledge Translation Coordinator for the Ecohealth Field Building Leadership Initiative in Southeast Asia (FBLI). The FBLI is a five year program (2012-2016), funded by IDRC, that aims to address human health problems associated with agricultural intensification and other challenges in Southeast Asia.

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IAEH president visits Umnugobi Province in Mongolia

The President of IAEH visits Umnugobi Province in Mongolia while supervising Bolor Bold, a Mongolian medical doctor at the National Centre of Zoonotic Disease, working on echinococcosis control. Umnugobi, which is the southern part of the Gobi desert in Mongolia has one of the highest incidences of echinococcosis in Mongolia. The project aims to understand current treatment algorithms of echinococcosis and then to improve clinical care. At a later stage, control at the source is foreseen, but a better understanding of the disease ecology is necessary to recognize the most important reservoirs and intermediary hosts. For example, it is not currently known what role camels play in the transmission of echinococcosis.

 

[author]

Jakob Zinsstag  |  jakob.zinsstag@unibas.ch

Jakob Zinsstag is deputy head of department at the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute and President of the IAEH. He is interested in the health of mobile pastoralists and zoonoses control in Africa and Asia.  [/author] Anders Bjork Womens Jersey

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Next Time you Drink a Margarita Raise Your Glass to the Bats that Made it Possible

Picture of a bat showing the white fungal growth on the muzzle and wings which are classic signs of white nose syndrome (picture by Al Hicks, New York Department of Environment and Conservation).

Bats are much maligned with their age-old association with Dracula, vampires and rabies to more modern concerns, such as the proposed source of several emerging viral diseases including Ebola virus, Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus, and Nipah virus, to name a few. Yet, what is less known is the important role that bats play in providing ecosystem services and the fact bats are also victim to one of the most devastating wildlife diseases ever discovered.

Bats are a unique group of mammals of the order Chiroptera whose forelimbs form webbed wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of true flight. They are also the second largest order of mammals (after rodents), representing about 20% of all classified mammal species worldwide, with over 1,300 species. Bats are present throughout most of the world, with the exception of the cold, polar regions. The majority of bat species are insectivores, and the remainder is mostly frugivorous, with a few specialist feeders such as the vampire bats that feed on blood. Given the wide distribution and the fact they occupy many ecological niches, bats play important roles in providing ecosystem services.  Fruit and nectar-feeding bats are critical pollinators for a wide variety of plants of economic and ecological value, including the agave plant from which tequila is made. In addition, many tropical plant species depend entirely on bats for the distribution of seeds. And bats are primary consumers of insects, many of which are pests for forest products and agricultural crops. A recent economic analysis indicated that insect suppression services provided by bats to U.S. agriculture is valued between $4 to 50 billion dollars per year.

Unfortunately, bats are victims of diseases too, and for the past decade we have witnessed devastating losses of species of bats in North America due to white-nose syndrome (WNS). White-nose syndrome is an emerging disease of hibernating bats that has spread from the northeastern to the central United States at an alarming rate. Since the winter of 2007-2008, millions of insect-eating bats in 25 states and five Canadian provinces have died from this devastating disease. The disease is named for the white fungus, Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd), that infects skin of the muzzle, ears, and wings of hibernating bats. The fungus was discovered through innovative scientific detective work by the USGS National Wildlife Health Center.  Pseudogymnoascus destructans, is a recently described, cold loving fungus, and this is first time a species from this genus has been identified as a pathogen of vertebrate species.

The USGS National Wildlife Health Center (NWHC) is a US government research facility with a dedicated mission of safeguarding wildlife and ecosystem health through dynamic partnerships and exceptional science, and seeks to protect wildlife from health threats by understanding the causes and drivers of diseases and developing strategies to prevent and manage them. Through a comprehensive program involving broad biomedical and ecological expertise and capabilities, the NWHC investigates disease outbreaks, conducts active surveillance, performs applied research, and provides management tools to address these threats. Scientists at the NWHC represent a wide array of expertise and capabilities, including wildlife biology, ecology, statistics, quantitative modeling, microbiology, veterinary medicine, epidemiology, toxicology, molecular biology, and immunology.

The NWHC along with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other partners continues to play a primary role in WNS research. Additional studies conducted at NWHC led to the development of standardized criteria for diagnosing the disease, and scientists at the NWHC have pioneered laboratory techniques for studying impacts of the fungus on hibernating bats. As more is learned about the ecology of WNS through a greater understanding of the interactions among bats, fungi, and the environment, new opportunities may arise to interrupt the disease cycle.  NWHC is actively investigating vaccination and other strategies to control environmental reservoirs of the fungal pathogen as a means by which to manage WNS in hibernating bats.

Current estimates of bat population declines in the northeastern US since the emergence of WNS are approximately 80%, and some species have been predicted to go locally extinct in 20 years. The northern long-eared bat has also been listed as threatened by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as a direct consequence of WNS.   This sudden and widespread mortality associated with WNS is unprecedented in hibernating bats, among which disease outbreaks have not been previously documented. It is unlikely that populations of bat species affected by WNS will recover quickly because most are long-lived and have only a single pup per year. Consequently, even in the absence of disease, bat populations do not fluctuate widely in numbers over time.

The true ecological consequences of large-scale population reductions currently under way among hibernating bats are not yet known; however, as noted earlier farmers might feel the impact due to the loss of insect suppression services. There may be other ecological repercussions that are difficult to anticipate, and this disease illustrates an important tenet of EcoHealth that loss of biodiversity jeopardizes the ecosystems upon which all life depends.

Thus, as you drink your margarita and look up at the night sky and see what may be dwindling numbers of bats, think of Batman and not Dracula. Bats are the heroes of the night sky, and not the villains. This dual identity of bats is a challenge; however, we must find ways for bats and people to co-exist if human, animal, and wildlife health is to be sustained.

Additional resources:

USGS National Wildlife Health Center Web site: http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/

White Nose Syndrome Web site: https://www.whitenosesyndrome.org/

Bat Conservation International Web site: http://www.batcon.org/

 

[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]http://iaeh.ecohealth.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/jonathansleeman.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]

Jonathan Sleeman  |  jsleeman@usgs.gov

Jonathan Sleeman is currently the Center Director for the US Geological Survey’s National Wildlife Health Center where he leads a team that provides national leadership to safeguard wildlife and ecosystem health through multidisciplinary research and technical assistance to federal, state, and tribal agencies as well as internationally as an OIE Collaborating Centre. He is also an Adjunct Professor at the University of Wisconsin, School of Veterinary Medicine. He has authored over 50 peer-reviewed publications and several book chapters all on the topics of wildlife and ecosystem health. He is active in various scientific organizations, and serves on several committees for the U.S. Animal Health Association, Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the CDC. He is board certified by the American College of Zoological Medicine, and received his veterinary degree and master’s degree in zoology from the University of Cambridge, England. Previous positions include Director of the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Center in Rwanda and Wildlife Veterinarian for the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.

[/author_info] [/author] A.J. Greer Jersey

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