Evaluating noninvasive methods for estimating cestode prevalence in a wild carnivore population.

Helminth infections are cryptic and can be difficult to study in wildlife species. Helminth research in wildlife hosts has historically required invasive animal handling and necropsy, while results from noninvasive parasite research, like scat analysis, may not be possible at the helminth species or individual host levels. To increase the utility of noninvasive sampling, individual hosts can be identified by applying molecular methods. This allows for longitudinal sampling of known hosts and can be paired with individual-level covariates. Here we evaluate a combination of methods and existing long-term monitoring data to identify patterns of cestode infections in gray wolves in Yellowstone National Park. Our goals were: (1) Identify the species and apparent prevalence of cestodes infecting Yellowstone wolves; (2) Assess the relationships between wolf biological and social characteristics and cestode infections; (3) Examine how wolf samples were affected by environmental conditions with respect to the success of individual genotyping. We collected over 200 wolf scats from 2018-2020 and conducted laboratory analyses including individual wolf genotyping, sex identification, cestode identification, and fecal glucocorticoid measurements. Wolf genotyping success rate was 45%, which was higher in the winter but decreased with higher precipitation and as more time elapsed between scat deposit and collection. One cestode species was detected in 28% of all fecal samples, and 38% of known individuals. The most common infection was Echinococcus granulosus sensu lato (primarily E. canadensis). Adult wolves had 4x greater odds of having a cestode infection than pups, as well as wolves sampled in the winter. Our methods provide an alternative approach to estimate cestode prevalence and to linking parasites to known individuals in a wild host system, but may be most useful when employed in existing study systems and when field collections are designed to minimize the time between fecal deposition and collection.

Mycobiome Traits Associated with Disease Tolerance Predict Many Western North American Bat Species Will Be Susceptible to White-Nose Syndrome.

White-nose syndrome (WNS), a fungal disease that has caused catastrophic population declines of bats in eastern North America, is rapidly spreading across the continent and now threatens previously unexposed bat species in western North America. The causal agent of WNS, the fungus Pseudogymnoascus destructans, can infect many species of hibernating bats, but susceptibility to WNS varies by host species. We previously reported that certain traits of the skin microbiome, particularly yeast diversity and abundance, of bat species in eastern North America are strongly associated with resistance to WNS. Using these traits, we developed models to predict WNS susceptibility of 13 species of western North American bats. Based on models derived from yeast species diversity, only one bat species, Myotis velifer, was predicted to be WNS resistant (i.e., may develop the disease, but with low mortality rates). We also screened yeasts found on western bats for P. destructans-antagonistic properties by spore germination and growth inhibition/competition assays and found the ability of yeasts to inhibit P. destructans in vitro to be strain specific. Similar to results of inhibition assays performed with yeasts isolated from bats in eastern North America, few yeasts isolated from bats in western North America inhibited P. destructans in vitro. Continued monitoring of western bat populations will serve to validate the accuracy of the mycobiome analysis in predicting WNS susceptibility, document population and susceptibility trends, and identify additional predictors to assess the vulnerability of naive bat populations to WNS. IMPORTANCE White-nose syndrome is one of the most devastating wildlife diseases ever documented. Some bat species are resistant to or tolerant of the disease, and we previously reported that certain traits of the skin mycobiome of bat species in eastern North America are strongly associated with resistance to WNS. Predicting which western bat species will be most susceptible to WNS would be of great value for establishing conservation priorities. Based on models derived from yeast species diversity, only one bat species was predicted to be WNS resistant. High susceptibility to WNS would pose a significant conservation threat to bats in western North America.

Soil Reservoir Dynamics of Ophidiomyces ophidiicola, the Causative Agent of Snake Fungal Disease.

Wildlife diseases pose an ever-growing threat to global biodiversity. Understanding how wildlife pathogens are distributed in the environment and the ability of pathogens to form environmental reservoirs is critical to understanding and predicting disease dynamics within host populations. Snake fungal disease (SFD) is an emerging conservation threat to North American snake populations. The causative agent, Ophidiomyces ophidiicola (Oo), is detectable in environmentally derived soils. However, little is known about the distribution of Oo in the environment and the persistence and growth of Oo in soils. Here, we use quantitative PCR to detect Oo in soil samples collected from five snake dens. We compare the detection rates between soils collected from within underground snake hibernacula and associated, adjacent topsoil samples. Additionally, we used microcosm growth assays to assess the growth of Oo in soils and investigate whether the detection and growth of Oo are related to abiotic parameters and microbial communities of soil samples. We found that Oo is significantly more likely to be detected in hibernaculum soils compared to topsoils. We also found that Oo was capable of growth in sterile soil, but no growth occurred in soils with an active microbial community. A number of fungal genera were more abundant in soils that did not permit growth of Oo, versus those that did. Our results suggest that soils may display a high degree of both general and specific suppression of Oo in the environment. Harnessing environmental suppression presents opportunities to mitigate the impacts of SFD in wild snake populations.

A novel host-adapted strain of Salmonella Typhimurium causes renal disease in olive ridley turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea) in the Pacific.

Salmonella spp. are frequently shed by wildlife including turtles, but S. enterica subsp. enterica serovar Typhimurium or lesions associated with Salmonella are rare in turtles. Between 1996 and 2016, we necropsied 127 apparently healthy pelagic olive ridley turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea) that died from drowning bycatch in fisheries and 44 live or freshly dead stranded turtles from the west coast of North and Central America and Hawaii. Seven percent (9/127) of pelagic and 47% (21/44) of stranded turtles had renal granulomas associated with S. Typhimurium. Stranded animals were 12 times more likely than pelagic animals to have Salmonella-induced nephritis suggesting that Salmonella may have been a contributing cause of stranding. S. Typhimurium was the only Salmonella serovar detected in L. olivacea, and phylogenetic analysis from whole genome sequencing showed that the isolates from L. olivacea formed a single clade distinct from other S. Typhimurium. Molecular clock analysis revealed that this novel clade may have originated as recently as a few decades ago. The phylogenetic lineage leading to this group is enriched for non-synonymous changes within the genomic area of Salmonella pathogenicity island 1 suggesting that these genes are important for host adaptation.

Evidence of Vertical Transmission of the Snake Fungal Pathogen Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola.

Snake fungal disease (ophidiomycosis) is an emerging infection of snakes caused by Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola. Little is known about mechanisms of this pathogen's transmission and its implications for conservation of wild snake populations. We report four cases with evidence of vertical transmission of O. ophiodiicola from dam to offspring.

Keeping the Heat on for Children's Health: A Successful Medical-Legal Partnership Initiative to Prevent Utility Shutoffs in Vulnerable Children.

OBJECTIVE: Energy insecurity may result in adverse consequences for children's health, particularly for children with special health needs or chronic health conditions. We aimed to determine whether a multimodal intervention addressing energy insecurity within the framework of a medical-legal partnership (MLP) resulted in an increase in the provision of certifications of medical need for utility coverage in an inner city academic primary care practice. METHODS: Working within a medical-legal partnership, we standardized criteria for providers approving medical need utility certification requests. We compared prior-year utility certification requests and approvals (pre-intervention) with the intervention year for families who reported energy insecurity on a waiting-room screening questionnaire. RESULTS: Between the first and second years of the study, certification of medical need approvals increased by 65%, preventing utility shut-offs for 396 more families with vulnerable children. CONCLUSIONS: Energy insecurity can be screened for and addressed in a busy urban practice, potentially improving the wellbeing of vulnerable children.

Kids Safe and Smokefree (KiSS): a randomized controlled trial of a multilevel intervention to reduce secondhand tobacco smoke exposure in children.

BACKGROUND: Secondhand smoke exposure (SHSe) harms children's health, yet effective interventions to reduce child SHSe in the home and car have proven difficult to operationalize in pediatric practice. A multilevel intervention combining pediatric healthcare providers' advice with behavioral counseling and navigation to pharmacological cessation aids may improve SHSe control in pediatric populations. METHODS/DESIGN: This trial uses a randomized, two-group design with three measurement periods: pre-intervention, end of treatment and 12-month follow-up. Smoking parents of children < 11-years-old are recruited from pediatric clinics. The clinic-level intervention includes integrating tobacco intervention guideline prompts into electronic health record screens. The prompts guide providers to ask all parents about child SHSe, advise about SHSe harms, and refer smokers to cessation resources. After receiving clinic intervention, eligible parents are randomized to receive: (a) a 3-month telephone-based behavioral counseling intervention designed to promote reduction in child SHSe, parent smoking cessation, and navigation to access nicotine replacement therapy or cessation medication or (b) an attention control nutrition education intervention. Healthcare providers and assessors are blind to group assignment. Cotinine is used to bioverify child SHSe (primary outcome) and parent quit status. DISCUSSION: This study tests an innovative multilevel approach to reducing child SHSe. The approach is sustainable, because clinics can easily integrate the tobacco intervention prompts related to "ask, advise, and refer" guidelines into electronic health records and refer smokers to free evidence-based behavioral counseling interventions, such as state quitlines. TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT01745393 (clinicaltrials.gov).

The Children's Advocacy Project of Philadelphia's Cap4Kids survey: an innovative tool for pediatrician--community-based organization collaboration.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the online advocacy resource tool, the Children's Advocacy Project of Philadelphia (Cap4Kids), is effective in helping pediatrics residents and pediatricians learn more about community-based organizations (CBOs). This study used an online survey of Cap4Kids Listserv members and analyzed the responses by subgroups. Three hundred twenty-seven Listserv members responded to this survey. Of these respondents, 41 were pediatricians and 62 were pediatrics residents. Results from this study demonstrated that 60% of pediatrics residents and 85% of pediatricians who were introduced to the Cap4Kids resource reported that they became more or much more knowledgeable about the community-based resources that serve families in need in their communities. Additionally, 61.6% of pediatrics residents and 100% of pediatricians rated the Cap4Kids resource as an excellent or above average teaching tool for learning about CBOs in their community. The Cap4Kids resource is an effective tool for introducing pediatricians and pediatrics residents to CBOs in their community.