James W. Cain III
Matthew E. Gompper
Paul R. Krausman
JIM Devos
Colton J. Padilla
2025
<p><span>Bighorn sheep (</span><i>Ovis canadensis</i><span>) are influenced by infectious diseases. Although </span><i>Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae</i><span> has been the main focus of bighorn sheep managers since early 2010, other pathogens may also influence bighorn sheep populations. We sampled desert bighorn sheep (</span><i>Ovis canadensis mexicana</i><span>) captured for a study on the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge in southwestern Arizona, USA, 2001–2005, for a suite of pathogens: bluetongue (BT), epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD), parainfluenza 3, bovine respiratory syncytial virus, </span><i>Clamydia</i><span>, seven </span><i>Leptospira</i><span> serovars, bovine herpesvirus 1 (causative agent of infectious bovine rhinotracheitis), bovine viral diarrhea virus, and bovine respiratory syncytial virus. We recorded evidence of exposure to seven of these pathogens, with two </span><i>Leptospira</i><span> serovars (</span><i>hardjo</i><span> and </span><i>bratislava</i><span>), five strains of BT, and two strains of EHD detected. Seroprevalence rates of detected pathogens varied between 12–49%. We observed high levels of co-occurrence for EHD and BT. These results highlight that multiple pathogens may influence desert bighorn sheep populations. These data also provide historical context to pathogen exposure for a region where few such data are available.</span></p>
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10.1894/0038-4909-68.4.6
en
BioOne
Serological assessment of pathogen exposure among desert bighorn sheep in southwestern Arizona
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