About This Project

Due to their cryptic nature, very little is known about the northward-creeping and vector-borne pathogens that cause malaria (Plasmodium odocoilei), babesiosis (Babesia odocoilei), or theileriosis (Theileria cervi) in cervids. These pathogens are moving north along with their mosquito and tick vectors and white-tailed deer hosts due to climate and land use changes. These pathogens pose a threat to northerly-distributed and declining moose, reindeer, and caribou populations.

Ask the Scientists

What is the context of this research?

White-tailed deer are expanding their geographic range northward and increasing in abundance with changes in climate and human land use. White-tailed deer are competent reservoir hosts for a diversity of pathogens vectored by mosquitoes and ticks which are also increasing in range and abundance. As white-tailed deer, mosquitoes, and ticks expand northward and become more common, they increasingly overlap in range with northerly-distributed and declining cervid species vulnerable to pathogen spillover and subsequent disease emergence including moose, elk, and reindeer. Naïve hosts such as elk and reindeer often die from B. odocoilei or T. cervi infections, and we are still learning about the health effects of the recently re-discovered P. odocoilei.

What is the significance of this project?

Without comprehensive pathogen surveillance, we miss the opportunity to take a proactive management approach rather than a reactive approach to pathogen spillover and subsequent emerging infectious disease outbreaks in wildlife. Establishing background information on P. odocoilei, B. odocoilei, and T. cervi will allow us to evaluate spillover risk to northerly-distributed and immunology-naïve ungulates such as moose and reindeer as the pathogens continue to move northward. We hope the results of this study will inform the decisions of wildlife managers, biologists, veterinarians, and livestock owners and aid in preventing the spillover of dangerous pathogens to populations of conservation concern. The project may also elucidate concerns for the health of livestock and humans.

What are the goals of the project?

The primary goal of this project is to establish baseline data on the geographic and host distribution and prevalence of P. odocoilei, B. odocoilei, and T. cervi in cervids throughout the northeastern US. This is a crucial step in understanding how these pathogens are shifting across time, latitude, and species in response to climate change. By PCR analysis, we will screen samples obtained from free-ranging moose and white-tailed deer from Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, and New York. We will also screen samples from captive cervids in the same states, including white-tailed deer, reindeer, elk, red deer, fallow deer, and other species. Hundreds of samples have already been procured from our collaborators.