With the global movement of people and increasing frequency of wildlife trade and their products, the reorganization and mutation of pathogens carried out by wildlife have accelerated with increased virulence, resulting in a constant appearance of new and recurring infectious diseases, which has threatened the biosafety and ecosecurity of China. In this review, we expounded on the background of the construction of the terrestrial wildlife-borne epidemic disease surveillance and prevention system in China and summarized the current status of the system development. The problems and deficiencies in the system construction were analyzed and countermeasures were proposed tentatively. The present situation was systematically analyzed from four aspects. Firstly, it summarized the necessity and importance of carrying out this work based on laws and regulations, departmental responsibilities, international implementation, and so on. Secondly, the current situation of the system construction was sorted out in seven aspects: monitoring sites, direct information reporting, talent team, rules and regulations, monitoring and early warning, scientific and technological support, and international cooperation. Thirdly, the existing problems were analyzed in terms of five aspects: imperfect laws and regulations, inadequate system construction, lack of capital guarantee, low degree of specialization, and insufficient basic research. Finally, proposals were put forward in these aspects: strengthening of laws and regulations, construction of surveillance and prevention systems, strengthening of basic scientific research, and carrying out extensive science popularization. After 15 years of construction, the system was initially established, the network of monitoring stations were set up so that the monitoring information can be reported directly through the network. The monitoring team has continued to grow, rules and regulations system have been gradually improved, monitoring and early warning capacity has been steadily improved, scientific and technological support capacity has been strengthened, and there have been more international exchanges and cooperation. However, owing to late start and weak foundation, the development foundation for surveillance, prevention, and control is not solid, and the overall level of work is low, which means: ① The current law is not clear on the division of labor in this work and the departments, where shifting responsibilities onto each other often happen. ② There are a large number of stations monitoring blind areas and national monitoring stations account for less than 30% of the coverage of terrestrial wildlife gathering and distribution areas in China; the current technical level of monitoring stations is low and active monitoring and early warning capability is insufficient. ③ Investment from the government budget is not enough to meet the needs of practical work and the investment channels of local operation funds and epidemic prevention and control funds are not good enough. ④ Approximately 80% of the front-line monitoring personnel are part-time workers and less than 10% are professionals; moreover, there is a lack of professional training. ⑤ The contradiction between public welfare and profitability has not been solved owing to the lack of basic research institutes and production enterprises. Monitoring and prevention of terrestrial wildlife epidemic diseases are the first barrier to strengthen national biosafety, public health security, and ecological security. It is necessary to implement the concepts of “Community of Human Destiny” and “One health” and clarify the division of responsibilities. We should increase capital investment, strengthen talent training, and consolidate the foundation of scientific and technological supports. Five suggestions are put forward: ① Make up for the legal loopholes and form an administrative structure in which the departments in charge of epidemic prevention and control of human beings, domestic animals, and wild animals have clear and separate responsibilities. ② Implement the plan of national monitoring station reconstruction and expansion project and establish terrestrial wildlife epidemiological investigation and public health early warning, prevention, and control systems. ③ Establish a scientific and reasonable funding input mechanism and strengthen the introduction and training of talents. ④ Combine superior forces to carry out scientific research and establish a deep integration and development mechanism of industry-university-research. ⑤ Carry out science popularization publicity activities in all directions and from various angles to form a good situation of group prevention and group control.
【Objective】In this study, we aimed to identify Artiodactyla species in cases of wildlife destruction, using mitochondrial DNA barcoding. 【Method】COI and Cyt b sequences in 67 samples from 16 species were amplified. Animal samples were identified using Blast search on the GenBank sequences. Intra-and inter-specific genetic distances were compared, and phylogenetic trees were constructed using MEGA 7.0. 【Result】In a homology analysis, the Cyt b sequences of Capreolus pygargus and Capreolus capreouls were 99.64%-99.82% homologous; this sequence could not distinguish two closely related species, whereas other COI and Cyt b sequences could. The intra-specific genetic distance was 0-1.4% for COI and 0-0.5% for Cyt b, whereas the inter-specific genetic distance was 1.8%-18.8% for COI and 4.0%-15.8% for Cyt b. An obvious barcoding gap was detected in both markers for all species. The phylogenetic tree showed that samples from the same species formed monophyletic groups with high support values. The gaps between different species were clear, and all samples from each species formed a single branch with a high support value.【Conclusion】COI and Cyt b may serve as molecular markers for Artiodactyla identification in cases involving wildlife resources. To minimize the risk of false identification, the two DNA barcodes could be used simultaneously, especially for the closely related species.
【Objective】Anastomus oscitans is a newly recorded bird species in China. It is also a host for the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus subtype H5N1. Understanding the spatial distribution and variation patterns of A. oscitans and elucidating its spatial relationship with poultry farms are important for the poultry management and avian influenza control and prevention.【Method】From 2016 to 2018, 11 A. oscitans were captured and fitted using satellite tracking devices in Mengzi, Yunnan. The dynamic Brownian bridge movement model was used to calculate the home ranges of five A. oscitans that met the data analysis requirements. The spatial relationship between home ranges and duck farms was explored using the overlay analysis in ArcGIS.【Result】The home ranges of A. oscitans were mainly located in the areas around Changqiao and Datun Lakes; the core areas were mainly concentrated in south and southeast of Changqiao Lake, and south and northwest of Datun Lake. The average annual home ranges and the core area of A. oscitans (n=5) were (45.65±17.57) km2 and (1.98±1.19) km2, respectively; the core area only accounted for 4.34% of the home ranges. The home ranges and core areas varied greatly among the individuals. The largest annual home range was 70.93 km2, whereas the smallest was 22.16 km2. The largest annual core area was 3.67 km2, whereas the smallest was 0.51 km2. One-way ANOVA showed no significant seasonal difference in the A. oscitans(n=5) home ranges (F=2.607, df=3, P>0.05). The core areas also showed no significant seasonal difference (F=1.832, df=3, P>0.05). However, the core areas in summer were significantly larger than those in the other seasons. All duck farms were distri-buted within the A. oscitans home ranges, and three duck farms highly overlapped with the core areas. This indicates a high risk of avian influenza transmission.【Conclusion】We recommend that the local duck farming mode be changed from being free to captive. The population monitoring and satellite tracking of A. oscitans should be reinforced to completely understand its distribution and expansion dynamics in China and improve the prevention and control of avian influenza.
Emerging infectious diseases, most of which are zoonoses involving multiple host species, have been increasing at an unprecedented rate during the last 50 years. These diseases impact both public health, animal husbandry, and wildlife conservation. Generally, species vary considerably in their competence for transmitting pathogens, thus the host community composition can potentially influence the pathogen transmission dynamics and disease risk. The relationships between host diversity, as the most important index for host community composition, and disease risk (i.e. the diversity-disease relationships) is an important topic in disease ecology. Particularly, the dilution effect (i.e. increased host diversity can reduce disease risk) has attracted wide attention. While the dilution effect hypothesis has been supported by many empirical studies, its generality is still under active debates. In this article, we introduce the mechanisms underlying the dilution effect, and the prerequisites for its generality. We then reviewed the research progress on the diversity-disease relationship in three directions: ① the scale-dependence of the dilution effect; ② the relationship between species’ reservoir competence and local extinction risk; and ③ the identity effect of host diversity. In addition, we also summarized the current extension of the diversity-disease relationships: from species diversity to phylogenetic diversity, and from the risk of single disease to the disease burden. Finally, we consider that the future studies should try to explore the effects of habitat fragmentation, non-host, and community functional diversity on the diversity-disease relationships.
