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Transmission and lesion progression of treponeme-associated hoof disease in captive elk (Cervus canadensis)
Treponeme-associated hoof disease (TAHD) is a debilitating disease of free-ranging elk (Cervus canadensis) in the northwestern U.S. While treponemes are associated with lesions, the etiology and transmissibility between elk are unknown. Our objective was to determine whether the disease can be envir...
Autores principales: | , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
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Public Library of Science
2023
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Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10414667/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37561744 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0289764 |
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author | Robinson, Zachary B. Shah, Devendra H. Taylor, Kyle R. Wild, Margaret A. |
author_facet | Robinson, Zachary B. Shah, Devendra H. Taylor, Kyle R. Wild, Margaret A. |
author_sort | Robinson, Zachary B. |
collection | PubMed |
description | Treponeme-associated hoof disease (TAHD) is a debilitating disease of free-ranging elk (Cervus canadensis) in the northwestern U.S. While treponemes are associated with lesions, the etiology and transmissibility between elk are unknown. Our objective was to determine whether the disease can be environmentally transmitted to captive elk. Four individually housed treatment elk and 2 control elk were challenged with soil mixed with inoculum prepared from free-ranging elk hooves from TAHD-positive elk or autoclaved hooves from normal elk, respectively. The inoculum for each group was applied to the interdigital space and added to pre-existing soil in each pen. Eight challenges were conducted at 1–4-week intervals and lesion development was assessed during a 138-day challenge period that was followed by a 170-day monitoring period to document lesion progression. All treatment elk, but no control elk, developed gross and histologic lesions consistent with TAHD. Treponema phylotypes similar to those in bovine digital dermatitis in cattle were detected using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing from lesions in all treatment elk, but no control elk, during the challenge period. Lesions progressed from ulcerations in the interdigital space to extensive ulceration and underrunning of the hoof capsule by 35 and 173 days following the initial inoculation, respectively. Lameness in treatment elk was correlated with lesion development (R = 0.702, p≤0.001), and activity of infected elk was reduced during the challenge (p≤0.001) and monitoring periods (p = 0.004). Body condition was significantly lower in treatment than control elk 168 days following the initial inoculation (p = 0.05) and at each individual elk’s study endpoint (p = 0.006). Three of 4 treatment elk were euthanized when they reached humane endpoints, and one elk recovered. These results provide direct evidence that TAHD is a transmissible infectious disease in elk. As such, actions that reduce transmission risk can support disease management and prevention. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-10414667 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2023 |
publisher | Public Library of Science |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-104146672023-08-11 Transmission and lesion progression of treponeme-associated hoof disease in captive elk (Cervus canadensis) Robinson, Zachary B. Shah, Devendra H. Taylor, Kyle R. Wild, Margaret A. PLoS One Research Article Treponeme-associated hoof disease (TAHD) is a debilitating disease of free-ranging elk (Cervus canadensis) in the northwestern U.S. While treponemes are associated with lesions, the etiology and transmissibility between elk are unknown. Our objective was to determine whether the disease can be environmentally transmitted to captive elk. Four individually housed treatment elk and 2 control elk were challenged with soil mixed with inoculum prepared from free-ranging elk hooves from TAHD-positive elk or autoclaved hooves from normal elk, respectively. The inoculum for each group was applied to the interdigital space and added to pre-existing soil in each pen. Eight challenges were conducted at 1–4-week intervals and lesion development was assessed during a 138-day challenge period that was followed by a 170-day monitoring period to document lesion progression. All treatment elk, but no control elk, developed gross and histologic lesions consistent with TAHD. Treponema phylotypes similar to those in bovine digital dermatitis in cattle were detected using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing from lesions in all treatment elk, but no control elk, during the challenge period. Lesions progressed from ulcerations in the interdigital space to extensive ulceration and underrunning of the hoof capsule by 35 and 173 days following the initial inoculation, respectively. Lameness in treatment elk was correlated with lesion development (R = 0.702, p≤0.001), and activity of infected elk was reduced during the challenge (p≤0.001) and monitoring periods (p = 0.004). Body condition was significantly lower in treatment than control elk 168 days following the initial inoculation (p = 0.05) and at each individual elk’s study endpoint (p = 0.006). Three of 4 treatment elk were euthanized when they reached humane endpoints, and one elk recovered. These results provide direct evidence that TAHD is a transmissible infectious disease in elk. As such, actions that reduce transmission risk can support disease management and prevention. Public Library of Science 2023-08-10 /pmc/articles/PMC10414667/ /pubmed/37561744 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0289764 Text en © 2023 Robinson et al https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. |
spellingShingle | Research Article Robinson, Zachary B. Shah, Devendra H. Taylor, Kyle R. Wild, Margaret A. Transmission and lesion progression of treponeme-associated hoof disease in captive elk (Cervus canadensis) |
title | Transmission and lesion progression of treponeme-associated hoof disease in captive elk (Cervus canadensis) |
title_full | Transmission and lesion progression of treponeme-associated hoof disease in captive elk (Cervus canadensis) |
title_fullStr | Transmission and lesion progression of treponeme-associated hoof disease in captive elk (Cervus canadensis) |
title_full_unstemmed | Transmission and lesion progression of treponeme-associated hoof disease in captive elk (Cervus canadensis) |
title_short | Transmission and lesion progression of treponeme-associated hoof disease in captive elk (Cervus canadensis) |
title_sort | transmission and lesion progression of treponeme-associated hoof disease in captive elk (cervus canadensis) |
topic | Research Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10414667/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37561744 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0289764 |
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