Johan Espunyes Nozières

• DVM, PhD · Researcher
• Technician at Govern d'Andorra

Changes in vegetation phenology related to global warming are having alarming effects on the life history traits of many herbivore species. Such changes are particularly critical in alpine ecosystems, where strong climate limitations on plant growth make seasonal synchronization imperative for the growth, reproduction and survival of herbivores. Ho...

We conducted a serosurvey for Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus antibodies in various wildlife species in Catalonia, northeastern Spain. We detected high seroprevalence in southern Catalonia, close to the Ebro Delta wetland, a key stopover for birds migrating from Africa. Our findings could indicate that competent virus vectors are present in...

The global emergence of antimicrobial-resistant (AMR) strains of Salmonella and Campylobacter is a serious public health concern. Both bacteria are leading causes of human gastrointestinal foodborne infections and the two most reported zoonoses in the European Union. By feeding on livestock carcasses, especially from intensive farming, as well as o...

Identifying the role that host species play in pathogen transmission and maintenance is crucial for disease control, but it is a difficult task, in particular for vector-borne and multi-host pathogens, and especially when wildlife species are involved. This is the case for a Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) hotspot in north-eastern Spa...

Hyalomma marginatum is a hard tick vector of various pathogens, including Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic fever virus, recently detected in French specimens. This species has a wide distribution from North Africa to Eastern Europe and has only recently been considered established in Southern France. These changes in species distribution led us to explore...

Incursions of wild animals into urban areas amplify the potential risks of zoonotic disease transmission by increasing contact between humans and animal reservoirs. Monitoring the presence of pathogens in these animals is crucial for assessing zoonotic risks but remains challenging due to the vast array of known and unknown pathogens harboured by a...

Leishmania tarentolae and Leishmania infantum are two sympatric parasites of significant ecological and epidemiological interest in the Mediterranean basin. This study investigated the prevalence of L. tarentolae and L. infantum in two gecko species ( Tarentola mauritanica and Hemidactylus turcicus ) present on Mallorca Island, Spain, using duplex...

Peccaries (collared peccary—CP—and white-lipped peccary—WLP) are an essential source of protein and income for rural communities in the Amazon region. Since 1980s, researchers in the Amazon have reported recurrent local disappearances of WLP populations. Although such disappearances impact the species conservation and the food security of rural soc...

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and Hepatitis E virus (HEV) are zoonotic pathogens posing significant health concerns in rural Amazonia, a region marked by high endemicity, poverty, and limited healthcare access. However, the epidemiology of HBV and HEV in this ecosystem remains underexplored. This study examines the circulation of HBV and HEV at the human...

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), considered a zoonotic agent of wildlife origin, can infect various animal species, including wildlife in free-range and captive environments. Detecting susceptible species and potential reservoirs is crucial for preventing the transmission, spread, genetic evolution, and further emergenc...

Toxoplasma gondii is a ubiquitous zoonotic protozoan parasite that infects a wide variety range of warm-blooded animals. This study describes the epidemiological scenario of T. gondii in an indigenous community that relies on subsistence hunting in a well-conserved and isolated area of the Peruvian Amazon. The high seropositivity against T. gondii...

Adiaspiromycosis is a nontransmissible infectious pulmonary disease caused by the inhalation of propagules from fungal species belonging to the family Ajellomicetaceae, especially Emergomyces crescens. Adiaspiromycosis caused by E. crescens has been recorded in a broad number of species worldwide, with small burrowing mammals being considered the m...

Serosurvey results for Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus antibodies in dromedary camels in Algeria indicate that the pathogen is circulating endemically in desertic areas, despite the hostile environment. Thus, dromedaries are suitable sentinels for detecting human risk for Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever in desertic areas

Wild small rodents are considered the natural reservoirs of Mycobacterium microti, a member of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) that can cause tuberculosis (TB) in humans and animals, as well as interfere with current tuberculosis eradication plans in livestock. A cross-sectional study was carried out in the Catalan Pyrenees (Iberian P...

Since 2001, high-mortality outbreaks of border disease (BD) have negatively affected populations of Pyrenean chamois (Rupicapra pyrenaica pyrenaica). Studies in the affected areas determined that sympatric wild ruminants did not seem to have an epidemiologic role in the circulation of border disease virus (BDV). However, the recent increase in Euro...

Foodborne pathogens are an important cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. To assess the presence of Salmonella, Campylobacter and Arcobacter spp. in livestock, wildlife, and humans from different regions across western Uganda, 479 faecal samples were tested by PCR. Salmonella and Campylobacter spp. were more frequently detected in livestock...

Human activities are causing dramatic declines in ecosystem health, compromising the functioning of the life-support system, economic activity, and animal and human health. In this context, monitoring the health of ecosystems and wildlife populations is crucial for determining ecological dynamics and assessing management interventions. A growing bo...

Background: Anthropogenic disturbance has the potential to negatively affect wildlife health by altering food availability and diet composition, increasing the exposure to agrochemicals, and intensifying the contact with humans, domestic animals, and their pathogens. However, the impact of these factors on the fecal microbiome composition of wildl...

Chytridiomycosis, which is caused by the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis and B. salamandrivorans, has been associated with the greatest loss of biodiversity resulting from a disease. In 2019 and 2020 and as part of the Active Amphibian Health Surveillance Programme of Catalonia (ASPrCAT), we gathered skin swabs from 137 amphibians in areas bo...

Infectious diseases are increasingly emerging and spreading globally, ending up being considered a threat to biodiversity. In the Amazon region, repeated disappearance episodes of local populations of white-lipped peccaries have been reported during the last decades. These population crashes remain poorly understood, but current knowledge suggests...

The use of passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags in urodeles has become popular for individual marking in population and disease ecology studies. However, mark loss or mark-induced mortality can introduce biases and decrease precision in parameter estimates, leading to ineffective population management strategies. In this study we aimed to 1) a...

Toxoplasma gondii infection in healthy animals is often asymptomatic. However, some species with little history of contact with the parasite, such as marsupials and New World primates, present high mortality rates after infection. Despite its potential conservation concern, T. gondii infection in insectivorous bats has received little attention, an...

We conducted a retrospective serosurvey for antibodies against Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus in wild ungulates along the eastern Mediterranean Coast of Spain. The virus has been endemic in this region since 2010 but is mainly restricted to geographic clusters with extremely high seropositivity associated with high density of bovids.

The chamois Rupicapra spp. is the most abundant mountain ungulate of Europe and the Near East, where it occurs as two species, the northern chamois R. rupicapra and the southern chamois R. pyrenaica. Here, we provide a state‐of‐the‐art overview of research trends and the most challenging issues in chamois research and conservation, focusing on taxo...

Alpine grasslands are essential for carbon sequestration and food supply for domestic and wild herbivores inhabiting mountainous areas worldwide. These biomes, however, are alternatively threatened by the abandonment of agricultural and livestock practices leading to a fast-growing shrubification process while other mountain grasslands are sufferin...

The emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the greatest threats to human medicine and public health. While the occurrence of AMR in livestock has been broadly studied, the role of wild animal species in the maintenance and transmission of resistance is still poorly understood. Vultures are particularly exposed to AMR food-...

Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever is an emerging tick-borne disease caused by the arbovirus Crimean–Congo haemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV). In humans, the disease can be severe and even fatal in up to 40% of cases, but the infection is usually subclinical in wild and domestic animals. CCHFV is endemic in several African, Asian and eastern European c...

The Amazon is a highly biodiverse region and home of indigenous communities, where wild meat represents a significant source of animal protein. The white-lipped peccary (Tayassu pecari) and collared peccary (Pecari tajacu) are the most frequently hunted species, contributing up to 70% in term of biomass consumed. The decrease and disappearance of e...

Amphibians are the most threatened vertebrate taxa on Earth, with over 40% of their species at risk of extinction. Therefore, there is an increasing need to monitor their health status and population trends. Capture-mark-recapture studies are an essential tool to study population and disease dynamics. Marking techniques need to be reliable, having...

Adiaspiromycoses are non-transmissible infectious pulmonary diseases caused by the inhalation of propagules from thermally dimorphic fungal species belonging to the Ajellomicetaceae family, like Emmonsia crescens. Emmonsia crescens has a universal distribution, growing as a mycelial saprobic form in soil within a temperature range of 6‒30ºC, while...

Yersinia pseudotuberculosis is a ubiquitous Enterobacteriaceae frequently isolated from many captive and free-ranging wildlife. Rodents and birds are regarded as reservoir hosts and may show mild clinical signs or even be asymptomatic, but sporadically cases of disease are reported in several mammal and bird species. Most infections are seen in win...

Changes in vegetation phenology related to global warming are having alarming effects on the life history traits of many herbivore species. Such changes are particularly critical in alpine ecosystems, where strong climate limitations on plant growth make seasonal synchronization imperative for the growth, reproduction and survival of herbivores. Ho...

Simple Summary Ungulates are characterized by their ability to modify or maintain habitats through their impact on plant species composition and the structure of vegetation. Assessing the diet composition of ungulates is therefore important to understand their role in the ecosystem integrity and to develop monitoring and population management plans...

Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) is an intracellular protozoan parasite (Phylum Aplicomplexa) of worldwide distribution. Its infection is associated to abortion and perinatal mortality in most mammal species. Felines are the definitive hosts, excreting oocysts in faeces, and virtually all warm-blooded species can be intermediate hosts. Toxoplasma gond...

A cross-sectional study was carried out to evaluate shared pathogens that can be transmitted by close or non-close contact at the domestic-wild ruminants' interface. During summer-autumn 2015, a total of 138 cattle and 203 wild ruminants (red deer, Cervus elaphus, and fallow deer, Dama dama) were sampled in Doñana National Park (DNP, southwestern S...

Background Livestock play an important role as reservoir of enteric pathogens and antimicrobial resistance (AMR), a health and economic concern worldwide. However, little is known regarding the transmission and maintenance of these pathogens at the wildlife-livestock interface. In this study, we assessed the occurrence, genetic diversity and AMR of...

Urbanisation is a global human-induced environmental change and one of the most important threats to biodiversity. To survive in human-modified environments, wildlife must adjust to the challenging selection pressures of urban areas through behaviour, morphology, physiology and/or genetic changes. Here we explore the effect of urbanisation in a lar...

Fasciola hepatica is a liver parasite of ruminants whose distribution is determined by its intermediate host, the freshwater snail Galba truncatula. In Europe, F. hepatica is mostly associated with lowlands. Infection from sympatric domestic reservoirs is rarely reported in wild mountain ungulates. This study explores F. hepatica in a multi-host sy...

Ruminant pestiviruses are widely distributed worldwide, causing congenital disease and massive economic losses. Although ruminant production is an important economic sector in North Africa, the knowledge about pestiviruses is scarce. The present study aimed at assessing the presence of Pestivirus in cattle in Algeria, and to review the data availab...

In the recent past, peste des petits ruminants (PPR) emerged in East Africa causing outbreaks in small livestock across different countries, with evidences of spillover to wildlife. In order to understand better PPR at the wildlife–livestock interface, we investigated patterns of peste des petits ruminants virus (PPRV) exposure, disease outbreaks,...

Despite the variety of existing methods to assess the population size of mountain ungulates, their accuracy has rarely been tested on known-size populations. In this study, we took advantage of 27 surveys of a captive Iberian ibex (Capra pyrenaica) herd to evaluate the systematic detection error associated with the whole population and sex-specific...

Active surveillance programmes are strategic actions required to rapidly and effectively detect and respond to the threats associated with emerging diseases in wild animal populations. These programmes follow a preventive approach based on a systematic sampling. Amphibian populations are suffering major declines worldwide and emerging infectious di...

Increases in woody plant and shrub cover render alpine livestock less efficient at using their landscape, finds a new study of the eastern Spanish Pyrenees. Changes in land use and climate will affect not only flora and fauna but also the futures of alpine farmers, says the study, placing them at a growing economic risk both throughout Europe and w...

Increases in woody plant and shrub cover render alpine livestock less efficient at using their landscape, finds a new study of the eastern Spanish Pyrenees. Changes in land use and climate will affect not only flora and fauna but also the futures of alpine farmers, says the study, placing them at a growing economic risk both throughout Europe and w...

The study of diet composition is required to understand the interactions between animal and plant ecosystems. Different non-invasive techniques applied on faecal samples have commonly been used for such purposes, with cuticle microhistological analysis (CMA) and emerging DNA-based methods being the most relevant. In this work, we refined and optimi...

Since 2001, Pyrenean chamois (Rupicapra pyrenaica pyrenaica) populations have been affected by border disease virus (BDV) causing mortalities of more than 80% in some areas. Field studies carried out in France, Andorra, and Spain have shown different epidemiological scenarios in chamois populations. This study was designed to confirm the presence o...

The abandonment of rural activities and the rise in global temperatures has leaded to encroachment of grasslands by woody plants, reducing habitat heterogeneity and impacting biodiversity of Alpine semi-open habitats. Under that scenario, local overgrazing of high-quality meadows by livestock and wild ungulates is hence expected during summer. In t...

Changes in land‐use and climate affect the distribution and diversity of plant and animal species at different spatiotemporal scales. The extent to which species‐specific phenotypic plasticity and biotic interactions mediate organismal adaptation to changing environments, however, remains poorly understood. Woody plant expansion is threatening the...

In alpine habitats, the seasonally marked climatic conditions generate seasonal and spatial differences in forage availability for herbivores. Vegetation availability and quality during the growing season are known to drive life history traits of mountain ungulates. However, little effort has been made to understand the association between plant ph...

Influencia del hábitat en la relación calidad-composición de la dieta en los muflones corsos.

Presenter: Johan Espunyes; johan.espunyes@gmail.com; Wildlife Ecology & Health group (WildEH, SEFaS), Departament de Medicina i Cirurgia Animals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), 08193, Bellaterra, Spain The transmission dynamics of bacteria of public health concern among human beings, livestock and wildlife is still poorly understood. Be...

Introduction Salmonella and thermophilic Campylobacter are the leading causes of human gastroenteritis worldwide. Their presence and transmission dynamics among livestock and wildlife in the African continent is still poorly understood. Thus, the aim of this study was to assess the presence of these zoonotic bacteria in livestock and wildlife in ru...

Urbanization is an important threat to biodiversity but some species can thrive in urban environments. However, urban selective pressures may alter the behaviour, morphology and genetic structure of populations. Despite wild boar (Sus scrofa) is colonizing urban areas, few studies have analysed wild boar responses to urbanization. Thus, our aim was...

Border Disease Virus (BDV) causes health and economic impact on livestock and is also of importance in wildlife conservation as it causes high mortality outbreaks in Pyrenean chamois (Rupicapra pyrenaica pyrenaica). Pastoral practices are known as a main interspecies pathogen transmission. Hence, the presence of pestivirus in transhumant sheep floc...

Body condition is a measure of the energetic reserves stored in tissues and organs of animals in anticipation of periods of special energetic demands or to attenuate food shortages. For more than half a century, the kidney fat index (KFI) has been the most common invasive method for assessing body condition in ungulates. Since KFI requires animal n...

ANTECEDENTES Las condiciones climáticas en las zonas alpinas influyen sobre la biomasa vegetal y la oferta alimenticia de los herbívoros. Los ungulados de montaña adoptan estrategias biológicas para maximizar la ingesta de nutrientes y energía consumiendo las plantas más nutritivas. OBJETIVOS Describir la composición de la dieta del rebeco pirenaic...

Optimal management of free-ranging herbivores requires the accurate assessment of an animal’s nutritional status. For this purpose ‘near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy’ (NIRS) is very useful, especially when nutritional assessment is done through faecal indicators such as faecal nitrogen (FN). In order to perform an NIRS calibration, the default...

Raw data containing laboratory, NIRS-predicted faecal nitrogen values and NIRS spectra values by species. (XLS)

Estimating animal abundances in small areas is a difficult task and because a limited number of observations often results in low-precision estimates whose inaccuracies may even be exacerbated if surveys are focussed on clustered populations and/or are only carried out once a year. In an attempt to overcome this problem, we used point transects to...

Ruminant pestiviruses (family Flaviviridae) affect both wild and domestic ruminants worldwide, causing reproductive disorders and severe economic losses. Wild (n=1442) and domestic (n=373) ruminants from southern Spain were tested for the presence of antibodies to pestiviruses. Seropositivity was detected by both ELISA and virus neutralisation test...