Disease risk analysis in sea turtles: a baseline study to inform conservation efforts

Mashkour, Narges, Jones, Karina, Kophamel, Sara, Hipolito, Teresa, Ahasan, Shamim, Walker, Grant, Jakob-Hoff, Richard, Whittaker, Maxine, Hamann, Mark, Bell, Ian, Elliman, Jennifer, Owens, Leigh, Saladin, Claire, Crespo-Picazo, Jose Luis, Gardner, Brett, Loganathan, Aswini Leela, Bowater, Rachel, Young, Erina, Robinson, David, Baverstock, Warren, Blyde, David, March, Duan, Eghbali, Maryam, Mohammadi, Maryam, Freggi, Daniela, Giliam, Jane, Hale, Mike, Nicolle, Nicholas, Spiby, Kevin, Wrobel, Daphne, Parga, Mariluz, Mobaraki, Asghar, Rajakaruna, Rupika, Hyland, Kevin P., Read, Mark, and Ariel, Ellen (2020) Disease risk analysis in sea turtles: a baseline study to inform conservation efforts. PLoS ONE, 15 (10). e0230760..

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Abstract

The impact of a range of different threats has resulted in the listing of six out of seven sea turtle species on the IUCN Red List of endangered species. Disease risk analysis (DRA) tools are designed to provide objective, repeatable and documented assessment of the disease risks for a population and measures to reduce these risks through management options. To the best of our knowledge, DRAs have not previously been published for sea turtles, although disease is reported to contribute to sea turtle population decline. Here, a comprehensive list of health hazards is provided for all seven species of sea turtles. The possible risk these hazards pose to the health of sea turtles were assessed and “One Health” aspects of interacting with sea turtles were also investigated. The risk assessment was undertaken in collaboration with more than 30 experts in the field including veterinarians, microbiologists, social scientists, epidemiologists and stakeholders, in the form of two international workshops and one local workshop. The general finding of the DRA was the distinct lack of knowledge regarding a link between the presence of pathogens and diseases manifestation in sea turtles. A higher rate of disease in immunocompromised individuals was repeatedly reported and a possible link between immunosuppression and environmental contaminants as a result of anthropogenic influences was suggested. Society based conservation initiatives and as a result the cultural and social aspect of interacting with sea turtles appeared to need more attention and research. A risk management workshop was carried out to acquire the insights of local policy makers about management options for the risks relevant to Queensland and the options were evaluated considering their feasibility and effectiveness. The sea turtle DRA presented here, is a structured guide for future risk assessments to be used in specific scenarios such as translocation and head-starting programs.

Item ID: 58898
Item Type: Article (Research - C1)
ISSN: 1932-6203
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Copyright Information: © 2020 Mashkouret al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License,which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium,provided the original author and source are credited.
Funders: James Cook University
Projects and Grants: JCU Higher Degree Research Enhancement Scheme
Date Deposited: 09 Nov 2020 19:55
FoR Codes: 30 AGRICULTURAL, VETERINARY AND FOOD SCIENCES > 3009 Veterinary sciences > 300999 Veterinary sciences not elsewhere classified @ 100%
SEO Codes: 96 ENVIRONMENT > 9604 Control of Pests, Diseases and Exotic Species > 960407 Control of Pests, Diseases and Exotic Species in Marine Environments @ 100%
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