Studying the socio-ecological factors governing disease transmission between wild ungulates and livestock in the Indian trans-Himalayan region of Spiti
Student name: Ms Rashmi Singh
Guide: Dr Sudipta Chatterjee
Year of completion: 2018
Host Organisation: Nature Conservation Foundation
Supervisor (Host Organisation): Mr Munib Khanyari
Abstract: Disease transmission between sympatric species is a phenomenon of global concern. The small-bodied livestock in the study area share grazing pastures with the wild bharal or blue sheep, fostering a suitable platform for disease transmission. The study looked at socio-ecological factors driving livestock health management that influence disease prevalence in livestock, and its subsequent transmission to bharal, a natural wild prey of the snow leopard.
Livestock pellet samples were collected from 60.7% of all livestock-owning households from six villages, while bharal pellet samples were collected from four pastures. Mini-FLOTAC technique was used to estimate the diversity and abundance of the endo-parasites in samples. To understand the livestock health management practices adopted, semi-structured interviews were taken from 50.3% of households in all six villages, and officials from the animal husbandry department. The Q0 model was used to predict the year-round variation in parasite infection risk.
The FEC revealed the presence of GINs from eight taxa out of which five are shared by bharal and livestock, while three are found only in livestock. The parasite burden seemed to be reflected in the owners’ perception of livestock health; given that a bad health rating was correlated with higher parasite burden (R-squared=0.147, p-value=0.001). However, 79.3% of the respondents had ‘no idea’ about endo-parasites in livestock. T-test comparing the parasitic burden between livestock and bharal indicated that there is a significant difference ( p-value<0.05), with the average parasite burden in livestock (FEC=1628.38 EPG) being much higher than that in bharal (FEC=70.76 EPG).
An overlap in the GINs shared by the livestock and bharal indicates a significant potential risk for spill-over from livestock to bharal and vice-versa (spill-back). The Q0 model for Teladorsagia circumcincta suggests that the parasite is a year-round threat. The conservation implication is that such information can be useful for livestock health management by regular monitoring of the livestock. Efficient treatment with anthelmintic drugs will control the parasite burden in livestock and its subsequent transmission to bharal, thereby guarding the population of this important prey species against future disease outbreaks.
Keywords: Wildlife conservation; Disease ecology; Disease transmission; wildlife-livestock interface; socio-ecological system
