Wildlife Clinical Pathology: A One Health Key to Ecosystem Assessment

A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Wildlife".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 April 2025) | Viewed by 3611

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
Interests: avian medicine; exotic animal; wildlife; amphibian; reptile; clinical pathology; ecohealth; biochemistry

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Guest Editor
Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, School of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
Interests: diagnostic clinical pathology; veterinary pathobiology

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Guest Editor
Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, School of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
Interests: veterinary clinical pathology; diagnostic; equine infectious anemia virus

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Wildlife are integral components of ecosystems worldwide, and they depend upon healthy ecological systems not only to individually survive but to sustain and renew their populations. However, human encroachment, land use change and climate change continue to reduce wildlife populations and threaten many species worldwide with extinction. Our relationship with wildlife extends to prehistory as sources of domesticated animals, food, fiber and seasonal change. From the earliest recorded form of human communications in caves, wildlife have and continue to serve as cultural symbols of many more subtle universal concepts such as curiosity, creativity, balance, self-sacrifice, and strength. This assignment of deeper meaning suggests that our connection to wildlife extends well beyond that of functional and suggests that at the deepest levels of human connection there is need for wildlife conservation. As a part of wildlife conservation, in situ and ex situ assessment of the health of individuals and populations without the need for animal sacrifice or morbidity has become imperative as many populations continue to dwindle. Especially as many analyzers have become more portable, rapid and cost efficient, clinical pathology increasingly provides a more accessible pathway for wildlife health assessment.

We invite original research incorporating clinical pathology to assess wildlife species that generates new and robust clinical pathology methods for assessing free-living wildlife as part of their ecosystems and that allows and promotes this continuing avenue of investigation. While species in need of conservation are most acceptable, species from stable populations or introduced or nuisance species used as indicators ecosystem health based on clinicopathologic assessment will also be considered. We are most interested in science to assess those nonmammalian species often classed as “lower vertebrates”, and invertebrates, but will also review for the inclusion of overlooked nonrodent small mammalian species that are integral to ecosystem health or that indicate ecosystem health (hedgehogs, tenrec, etc.). Reference data useful for conservation and welfare of a species, in captivity or in the free-living state, are of particular interest. However, investigations into the use of new and old analytes as useful diagnostic analytes for wildlife species are also welcome.

Dr. J. Jill Heatley
Dr. Jessica A. Hokamp
Dr. Karen E. Russell
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • wildlife
  • clinical pathology
  • ecohealth
  • biochemistry
  • hematology
  • ecology

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 2425 KiB  
Article
Select Venous Analytes and Fibrinogen Determination Using Two Methods in Brown Pelicans
by Amelia Gessner-Knepel, Jordan Gentry, Sharon Schmalz, Karen E. Russell and J. Jill Heatley
Animals 2024, 14(16), 2364; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14162364 - 15 Aug 2024
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Abstract
The brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) is a species often affected by natural and man-made disasters such as hurricanes and oil spills, as well as general human activities; that subsequently receives medical care and rehabilitation. During rehabilitation, blood may be collected for [...] Read more.
The brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) is a species often affected by natural and man-made disasters such as hurricanes and oil spills, as well as general human activities; that subsequently receives medical care and rehabilitation. During rehabilitation, blood may be collected for various tests to help with diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring. Reference intervals for this species are limited, dated, and typically from small sample sizes. Seventy-one presumed healthy brown pelicans were sampled as part of their pre-release examination from rehabilitation at the Wildlife Center of Texas after a large volume stranding from December 2014 to January 2015, and various venous analytes were measured to establish updated reference intervals for brown pelicans. Fibrinogen was measured via heat precipitation and the Abaxis VSPro equine fibrinogen cartridge to determine reference intervals and in an attempt to validate the VSPro for use in avian species. Abaxis VS2 Avian/Reptile Chemistry panel, iSTAT CG4+, and iSTAT Chem8+ results, in addition to body condition score, spun PCV, cloacal temperature, and fibrinogen were measured. Proposed reference intervals for brown pelicans are presented. Fibrinogen results were not comparable between the gold standard method and the VSPro, indicating that the VSPro is not appropriate for use in brown pelicans. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wildlife Clinical Pathology: A One Health Key to Ecosystem Assessment)
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15 pages, 7178 KiB  
Article
Phagocytic Function and Flow Cytometric Phenotype of Asian Elephant Monocytes
by Jennifer L. Johns, Trinity R. Baumgartner, Carlos R. Sanchez and Brian P. Dolan
Animals 2024, 14(16), 2297; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14162297 - 7 Aug 2024
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Abstract
Optimal veterinary care of managed elephant populations is vital due to the continued decline of wild populations. Appropriate health monitoring and accurate disease diagnosis include hematologic evaluation. Elephant hematology is distinctive in that elephants have high percentages of monocytes in health. Elephant monocytes [...] Read more.
Optimal veterinary care of managed elephant populations is vital due to the continued decline of wild populations. Appropriate health monitoring and accurate disease diagnosis include hematologic evaluation. Elephant hematology is distinctive in that elephants have high percentages of monocytes in health. Elephant monocytes also have unusual morphology, a feature shared with manatees and rock hyraxes. Manual white blood cell counting is used for elephant hematology, as analyzers are generally inaccurate. The aims of this study were to evaluate basic cell isolation and functional testing protocols for use in elephant monocyte research, and to test several available antibodies via flow cytometry for use in elephant monocyte identification. Peripheral blood samples from five Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) were used. Methods for monocyte isolation and evaluation of phagocytic function were established. Putative lymphocyte and monocyte populations were identified using a scatter on flow cytometry. Antibodies against CD11b, CD11c, CD14, and ionized calcium-binding adapter molecule 1 (IBA1) were tested, with IBA1 showing the highest apparent diagnostic utility in labeling monocytes. Combined flow cytometric scatter and IBA1 positivity appear to identify Asian elephant monocytes. These data provide a methodologic basis for further investigation into elephant monocyte function and immune response to infection. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wildlife Clinical Pathology: A One Health Key to Ecosystem Assessment)
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