Papers by Jose Angel Barasona
Research in Veterinary Science, Sep 1, 2023
Frontiers in Immunology, Nov 30, 2021
African swine fever (ASF) is a highly lethal infectious disease that affects domestic pigs and wi... more African swine fever (ASF) is a highly lethal infectious disease that affects domestic pigs and wild boar. Outbreaks of ASF have grown considerably in the last decade causing important economic consequences for the swine industry. Its control is hampered by the lack of an effective treatment or vaccine. In Europe, the wild boar is a key wild reservoir for ASF. The results of the oral vaccination trial of wild boar with Lv17/WB/Rie1 are hope for this problem. However, this vaccine candidate has certain safety concerns, since it is a naturally attenuated vaccine. Therefore, the current study aims to evaluate the safety of this vaccine candidate in terms of overdose (high dose) and repeated doses (revaccination) in wild boar. Low-dose orally vaccinated animals developed only a slight transient fever after vaccination and revaccination. This was also the case for most of the high-dose vaccinated wild boar, except for one of them which succumbed after revaccination. Although this fatality was related to hierarchical fights between animals, we consider that further studies are required for clarification. Considering these new results and the current epidemiological situation of ASF in wild boar, this vaccine prototype is a promising tool for the control of the disease in these wild populations, although further studies are needed.
Pathogens, Jun 15, 2021
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY
Frontiers in Veterinary Science, Jan 14, 2015
The control of diseases shared with wildlife requires the development of strategies that will red... more The control of diseases shared with wildlife requires the development of strategies that will reduce pathogen transmission between wildlife and both domestic animals and human beings. This review describes and criticizes the options currently applied and attempts to forecast wildlife disease control in the coming decades. Establishing a proper surveillance and monitoring scheme (disease and population wise) is the absolute priority before even making the decision as to whether or not to intervene. Disease control can be achieved by different means, including: (1) preventive actions, (2) arthropod vector control, (3) host population control through random or selective culling, habitat management or reproductive control, and (4) vaccination. The alternative options of zoning or no-action should also be considered, particularly in view of a cost/benefit assessment. Ideally, tools from several fields should be combined in an integrated control strategy. The success of disease control in wildlife depends on many factors, including disease ecology, natural history, and the characteristics of the pathogen, the availability of suitable diagnostic tools, the characteristics of the domestic and wildlife host(s) and vectors, the geographical spread of the problem, the scale of the control effort and stakeholders' attitudes.
Resumen del trabajo presentado a la 61st Wildlife Disease Association and 10th Biennial European ... more Resumen del trabajo presentado a la 61st Wildlife Disease Association and 10th Biennial European Wildlife Disease Association: "convergence in wildlife health", celebrada en Lyon (Francia) del 23 al 27 de julio de 2012.
European Journal of Wildlife Research, Mar 12, 2020
Traditional VHF radio-tracking is gradually being replaced by GPS tracking devices in spatial eco... more Traditional VHF radio-tracking is gradually being replaced by GPS tracking devices in spatial ecology studies, although both technologies are currently in use. Differences between tracking regimes may report inconsistent home range estimates that make it difficult to establish direct comparisons between studies. Our primary aim was to test the reliability of comparisons in fixed kernel home ranges estimates of wild boar (Sus scrofa) using different approaches and also, provide an empirical basis for linking VHS and GPS tracking data. Moreover, to broadening the applicability of the results we have compared the kernel estimates with those of a third generation method, a dynamic brownian bridge model (dBBMM). Using GPS tracking data from wild boar, we simulated different tracking regimes (approaches) to compare the home range estimates. Data were obtained from 15 GPS-collared individuals from three areas in Mediterranean Spain. Results suggested that MCP produces the greatest differences in home ranges between approaches, while 95% kernel home range (Khr95) was the least biased parameter, both in size and utilization distribution overlap. From 50% kernel core range, similar estimates were also obtained across the less intensive approaches (typical of VHF tracking regimes). Using the most intensive sampling scheme, the Khr95 estimates did not differ significantly from those obtained with dBBMM. The home range estimates standardization is important due to the impact that spatial use knowledge has on management or conservation of species. In this sense, the proposed methodological approach allows comparison between studies that use different approaches to estimate home ranges.
Resumen del trabajo presentado a la 12th Conference of the European Wildlife Disease Association ... more Resumen del trabajo presentado a la 12th Conference of the European Wildlife Disease Association (EWDA), celebrada en Berlin (Alemania) del 26 al 31 de agosto de 2016.
Resumen del trabajo presentado al XIII Congreso de la Sociedad Española para la Conservación y Es... more Resumen del trabajo presentado al XIII Congreso de la Sociedad Española para la Conservación y Estudio de los Mamíferos, celebrado en Guadalajara del 6 al 9 de diciembre de 2017.La gestión y conservación de la fauna silvestre requiere monitorizar los indicadores poblacionales, principalmente cuando los cambios demográficos desequilibrados de unas especies puedan modular los de otras especies. En gran parte de Europa, las poblaciones de jabalí (Sus scrofa) se encuentran en continua expansión, alcanzando situaciones de sobreabundancia que llegan a provocar serios problemas económicos, ecológicos y sanitarios. Este incremento numérico de jabalíes puede afectar a determinadas especies vulnerables en zonas ecológicas sensibles, como es el caso de los humedales. En este contexto, pretendemos (i) examinar detalladamente el efecto potencial que puede tener el jabalí sobre la abundancia de lagomorfos y la productividad de aves acuáticas, controlando los posibles efectos de los carnívoros silvestres y otros predictores ambientales mediante el uso de modelos mixtos, así como (ii) evaluar la utilidad de monitorizar simultáneamente las poblaciones de mamíferos y aves en humedales con diferentes parámetros ecológicos. Para ello, se han realizado y comparado paralelamente muestreos basados en indicios de mamíferos (transectos a pie; n=54) y conteos por observación directa de aves acuáticas y sus pollos (estaciones fijas; n=90) en el entorno de 26 lagunas de la Mancha Húmeda, una zona con poblaciones de jabalí en expansión y con una amplia comunidad de aves acuáticas. En general, se ha detectado la presencia de jabalí en el 80,8% de los humedales muestreados, pero con abundancias muy diversas. Su abundancia se ha relacionado negativamente con la productividad de toda la comunidad de aves acuáticas -a priori altamente vulnerables- con cría en orillas o islas, tanto coloniales (géneros Gelochelidon, Himantopus, Recurvirostra y Sternula), como solitarias (géneros Anas, Vanellus y Charadrius). Además, se ha observado una clara relación negativa del jabalí con la abundancia de conejo (Oryctolagus cuniculus) en las zonas circundantes de las lagunas estudiadas. Esta monitorización integrada es fundamental para abordar los planes de gestión poblacional del jabalí en humedales y preservar a las especies más vulnerables.Peer reviewe
Resumen del trabajo presentado a la 61st Wildlife Disease Association and 10th Biennial European ... more Resumen del trabajo presentado a la 61st Wildlife Disease Association and 10th Biennial European Wildlife Disease Association: "convergence in wildlife health", celebrada en Lyon (Francia) del 23 al 27 de julio de 2012.-- et al.
Pathogens, Mar 25, 2020
The presence of Mycobacterium bovis and other members of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (... more The presence of Mycobacterium bovis and other members of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTC) is a main concern in wildlife populations such as the Eurasian wild boar (Sus scrofa). Tests detecting antibodies against the MTC are valuable for tuberculosis (TB) monitoring and control and particularly useful in suids. The development of accurate, efficient, and non-invasive new tools to detect exposure to MTC would be highly beneficial for improving disease surveillance. This study aimed to determine if antibodies against MTC could be detected in oral fluid (OF) samples by a new ELISA test (IgG detection) from naturally TB-infected wild boar. For this, individual, paired serum and OF samples were collected from 148 live wild boar in two TB-status areas from Spain and quantitatively used to validate the new ELISA test. Antibodies against MTC were widely detected in OF samples, for which a significant positive correlation (r = 0.83) was found with the validated serology test. OF ELISA sensitivity and specificity were 67.3% and 100%, respectively. The results of this work suggest that OF samples have the potential to be used for MTC diagnosis as a further step in TB surveillance and control in suid populations. Based on our results, further research is warranted and could be performed using non-invasive new tools directly in field conditions to detect exposure to MTC.
Resumen del poster presentado a la V Reunion sobre Ungulados Silvestres Ibericos (RUSI), celebrad... more Resumen del poster presentado a la V Reunion sobre Ungulados Silvestres Ibericos (RUSI), celebrada en Ciudad Real el 12 y 13 de septiembre de 2014.-- et al.
PeerJ, 2021
Understanding the dynamics of a wildlife population in relation to hunting strategies is essentia... more Understanding the dynamics of a wildlife population in relation to hunting strategies is essential to achieve sustainable management. We used monitoring data over 25 years from two red deer (Cervus elaphus) populations with different management (with and without supplemental feeding) in South Central Spain to: (i) characterise the density dependence of population dynamics under contrasted management, and (ii) provide the basis for sustainable extraction by considering the theoretical maximum sustainable yield (MSYt) as the reference. The red deer population displayed a typical management reactive culling approach (‘saw-tooth-like’ curves), with occasional strong annual harvests but not occurring on a regular basis. Interestingly, we found reduced population growth at high densities in both populations, indicating that density-mediated factors determined population growth even when artificial feeding was provided. However, no effects of sex not age class of the extracted population o...
Ecosistemas, Aug 26, 2013
Ecosphere, Jul 1, 2023
Estimating population density is critical for effective species conservation, wildlife management... more Estimating population density is critical for effective species conservation, wildlife management planning, and long‐term monitoring. Obtaining accurate estimates is especially important for the wolf (Canis lupus), a widely distributed northern hemisphere apex predator whose management and conservation are highly controversial in most of its range, and whose presence usually generates high‐profile media coverage. The peculiarities of wolf social spatial organization and behavior can violate the assumptions of capture–recapture models (uniformity and independence, respectively) to a greater or lesser extent and make it difficult to obtain precise and reliable density estimates. This paper presents a case study, which estimated the population density of the Iberian wolf in the Dorsal Gallega mountain ridge (Galicia, NW Spain) based on the identification of individual wolves from their traits and behavior using video camera traps and spatially explicit capture–recapture (SCR) analyses. The study followed three phases. Firstly, field data were collected by installing camera traps and changing their location until the entire area was sampled. Second, a complete morphological and behavioral study of the wolves recorded was performed to facilitate individual recognition. Third, overdispersion due to gregariousness and other sources of heterogeneity was modeled in the SCR analyses comparing Poisson and negative binomial observation models with different random effects on the baseline detection probability. We estimated a density of 2.88 (SD: 0.37) wolves/100 km2 in the study area. We concluded that estimating wolf population size using camera trap videos, individual identification, and SCR provides a feasible method and can be used for estimating the density in similar species.
MicrobiologyOpen, Feb 18, 2017
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which... more This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Preventive Veterinary Medicine, Apr 1, 2012
European Journal of Wildlife Research, Nov 6, 2015
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Papers by Jose Angel Barasona