Abstract
General wildlife health surveillance is a valuable source of information on the causes of mortality, disease susceptibility and pathology of the investigated hosts and it is considered to be an essential component of early warning systems. However, the representativeness of data from such surveillance programs is known to be limited by numerous biases. The roe deer (Capreolus capreolus capreolus) is the most abundant ungulate and a major game species all over Europe. Yet, internationally available literature on roe deer pathology is scarce. The aims of this study were (1) to provide an overview of the causes of mortality or morbidity observed in roe deer in Switzerland and to assess potential changes in the disease pattern over time; and (2) to evaluate the value and limitations of a long term dataset originating from general wildlife health surveillance. We compiled 1571 necropsy reports of free ranging roe deer examined at the Centre for Fish and Wildlife Health in Switzerland from 1958 to 2014. Descriptive data analysis was performed considering animal metadata, submitter, pathologist in charge, laboratory methods, morphological diagnoses and etiologies. Recurrent causes of mortality and disease pictures included pneumonia, diarrhea, meningoencephalitis, actinomycosis, blunt trauma, predation, neoplasms and anomalies. By contrast, other diagnoses such as fatal parasitic gastritis, suspected alimentary intoxication and reproductive disorders appeared only in earlier time periods. Diseases potentially relevant for other animals or humans such as caseous lymphadenitis (or pseudotuberculosis), salmonellosis, paratuberculosis and listeriosis were sporadically observed. The disease pattern in roe deer from Switzerland was largely in accordance with previous reports. The observed fluctuations were consistent with methodical and/or personnel changes and varying disease awareness. Nevertheless, despite such limitations, the compiled data provide a valuable baseline. To facilitate comparison among studies, we recommend systematically archiving all case documents and fixed tissues and to perform data analyses more regularly and in a harmonized way.
Highlights
The need for wildlife health surveillance and its benefits to animal and human health and nature conservation are widely recognized
The other cantons and the Principality of Liechtenstein submitted less than 35 roe deer cases over the whole study period and the geographic origin was unknown in 3.7% of the cases
Neoplasms in various organs have been repeatedly described in roe deer (e.g. [56,57,58,59,60,61,62,63,64,65]), suggesting that this species is prone to developing neoplastic diseases
Summary
The need for wildlife health surveillance and its benefits to animal and human health and nature conservation are widely recognized. In Europe, wildlife health surveillance programs have either already existed for a long time or else have recently been established in numerous countries. Only few of them have in place a general surveillance program, which is comprehensive with respect to species of animals examined and types of diseases assessed [1]. Compilations of wildlife health data acquired through general surveillance in Europe, if at all existing, have been mainly written in the respective local language and have to date remained scarce in the internationally available literature. To obtain an overview of the health status of wildlife at a continental level, to assess differences between regions or countries, and understand the factors causing these differences, it is important to make existing data widely available
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