Echinococcus granulosus in gray wolves and ungulates in Idaho and Montana, USA.

We evaluated the small intestines of 123 gray wolves (Canis lupus) that were collected from Idaho, USA (n=63), and Montana, USA (n=60), between 2006 and 2008 for the tapeworm Echinococcus granulosus. The tapeworm was detected in 39 of 63 wolves (62%) in Idaho, USA, and 38 of 60 wolves (63%) in Montana, USA. The detection of thousands of tapeworms per wolf was a common finding. In Idaho, USA, hydatid cysts, the intermediate form of E. granulosus, were detected in elk (Cervus elaphus), mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus), and a mountain goat (Oreamnos americanus). In Montana, USA, hydatid cysts were detected in elk. To our knowledge, this is the first report of adult E. granulosus in Idaho, USA, or Montana, USA. It is unknown whether the parasite was introduced into Idaho, USA, and southwestern Montana, USA, with the importation of wolves from Alberta, Canada, or British Columbia, Canada, into Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA, and central Idaho, USA, in 1995 and 1996, or whether the parasite has always been present in other carnivore hosts, and wolves became a new definitive host. Based on our results, the parasite is now well established in wolves in these states and is documented in elk, mule deer, and a mountain goat as intermediate hosts.

Variation in Pasteurella (Bibersteinia) and Mannheimia spp. following transport and antibiotic treatment in free-ranging and captive Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis canadensis).

Morbidity and mortality associated with respiratory disease following capture and translocation of bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis canadensis) is a significant concern, particularly when establishing new or augmenting existing bighorn populations. Administration of prophylactic antibiotics at the time of capture is often done to minimize the risk of respiratory disease, but the efficacy of this practice is unknown. The effects of oxytetracycline and florfenicol on the Pasteurella (Bibersteinia) and Mannheimia spp. isolated from samples collected from the oropharynx at the time of capture and 3 or 42 day later were evaluated in two groups of bighorn sheep. The most evident change in the isolation rates or types of Pasteurella (Bibersteinia) spp., Mannheimia spp., or both was an increase of beta-hemolytic strains isolated from bighorn sheep 3 day following oxytetracycline treatment. Both groups of bighorn sheep carried Pasteurella (Bibersteinia) trehalosi identified as the same biovariants, but they did not share biovariants of Mannheimia spp. No animals had signs of respiratory disease. Isolates representative of all biovariants present in cultures from the two bighorn sheep groups were sensitive to in vitro tests to both oxytetracycline and florfenicol and the majority were also sensitive to seven other antibiotics tested. The administration of neither oxytetracycline nor florfenicol eliminated Pasteurella (Bibersteinia) or Mannheimia from the oropharyngeal mucosa. Resistance to either antibiotic used in these animals was not noted. Although the prophylactic benefits of these drugs in preventing disease are uncertain, therapeutic levels of antibiotics in lung tissue during times of stress may reduce the risk of disease. Representative sampling of the oropharyngeal microflora of bighorn sheep source and recipient populations prior to being intermingled should be considered as one of the tools to minimize exposure of naive populations to potentially pathogenic bacteria.