Effect of epidemic diseases on wild animal conservation

Under the background of global species extinction,the impact of epidemic diseases on wild animal protection is increasingly prominent.Here,we review and synthesize the literature on this topic,and discuss the relationship between diseases and biodiversity.Diseases usually reduce species diversity by decreasing or extinction of species populations,but also accelerate species evolution and promote species diversity.At the same time,species diversity can regulate disease outbreaks through dilution or amplification effects.The synergistic effect of human activities and global change is emphasized,which further aggravates the complex relationship between biodiversity and diseases.Finally,we emphasize the importance of active surveillance of wild animal diseases,which can protect wild animals from potential diseases,maintain population size and genetic variation,and reduce the damage of diseases to the balance of the whole ecosystem and human health.Therefore,we suggest that a background survey of wild animal populations and their pathogens should be carried out to assess the impact of potential outbreaks on the population or species level.The mechanism of dilution and amplification effect between species diversity and diseases of wild animals should be further studied to provide a theoretical basis and technical support for human intervention measures to change biodiversity.Most importantly,we should closely combine the protection of wild animals with the establishment of an active surveillance,prevention,and control system for wild animal epidemics,in an effort to achieve a win-win situation between wild animal protection and disease control.

Identification and genetic characterization of Contracaecum sp.(Nematoda:Anisakidae)from China

Contracaecum species are economically important fish-borne larval nematodes with zoonotic significance.In June 2019,more than 100 piscivorous birds died in their habitats close to the Wild Duck Lake,located in Yanqing,northwest of Beijing,China.Post-mortem examination of Black Night Herons(Nycticorax)revealed the presence of numerous anisakid nematodes in the proventriculus.Recovered nematodes were identified as Contracaecum sp.based on morphological description.Phylogenetic analysis of the mitochondrial(mt)genome and the ITS gene showed that sequences of Contracaecum sp.Beijing isolates were grouped into a new individual cluster.Furthermore,the parasite was successfully isolated from fresh dead birds,feces of piscivorous birds,and fish and prevalence ranged from 8.0%to 81.8%.Consequently,our study demonstrated Contracaecum sp.infections in different sources from China,which might constitute a threat to wildlife,aquaculture,and public health.