Journal article
Developing noninvasive methodologies to assess koala population health through detecting Chlamydia from scats
Molecular Ecology Resources, Vol.19(4), pp.957-969
2019
Abstract
Wildlife diseases are a recognized driver of global biodiversity loss, have substantial economic impacts, and are increasingly becoming a threat to human health. Disease surveillance is critical but remains difficult in the wild due to the substantial costs and potential biases associated with most disease detection methods. Non-invasive scat surveys have been proposed as a health monitoring methodology to overcome some of these limitations. Here, we use the known threat of Chlamydia disease to the iconic, yet vulnerable, koala Phascolarctos cinereus to compare three methods for Chlamydia detection in scats: multiplex quantitative PCR, next generation sequencing, and a detection dog specifically trained on scats from Chlamydia-infected koalas. All three methods demonstrated 100% specificity, while sensitivity was variable. Of particular interest is the variable sensitivity of these diagnostic tests to detect sick individuals (i.e. not only infection as confirmed by Chlamydia-positive swabs, but with observable clinical signs of the disease); for koalas with urogenital tract disease signs, sensitivity was 78% with quantitative PCR, 50% with next generation genotyping and 100% with the detection dog method. This may be due to molecular methods having to rely on high-quality DNA whereas the dog most likely detects volatile organic compounds. The most appropriate diagnostic test will vary with disease prevalence and the specific aims of disease surveillance. Acknowledging that detection dogs might not be easily accessible to all, the future development of affordable and portable 'artificial noses' to detect diseases from scats in the field might enable cost-effective, rapid and large-scale disease surveillance.
Details
- Title
- Developing noninvasive methodologies to assess koala population health through detecting Chlamydia from scats
- Authors
- Romane H Cristescu (Corresponding Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - School of Science & EngineeringRussell L Miller (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - School of Science & EngineeringAnthony J Schultz (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - School of Science & EngineeringLyndal Hulse (Author) - University of QueenslandDamian Jaccoud (Author) - University of CanberraStephen Johnston (Author) - University of QueenslandJon Hanger (Author) - Endeavour Veterinary EcologyRosie Booth (Author) - Australia Zoo Wildlife HospitalCeline H Frere (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - School of Science & Engineering
- Publication details
- Molecular Ecology Resources, Vol.19(4), pp.957-969
- Publisher
- Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
- Date published
- 2019
- DOI
- 10.1111/1755-0998.12999
- ISSN
- 1755-098X
- Copyright note
- Copyright © 2019 Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd. This is the accepted version of the following article: Cristescu, RH, Miller, RL, Schultz, AJ, et al. Developing noninvasive methodologies to assess koala population health through detecting Chlamydia from scats. Mol Ecol Resour. 2019; 19: 957-969. https://doi.org/10.1111/1755-0998.12999, which has been published in final form at http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1111/nph.15695
- Organisation Unit
- School of Science and Engineering - Legacy; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; School of Science, Technology and Engineering
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99451137702621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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