Biology subjects

Napolitano, C.

Publications and source records attributed to Napolitano, C..

2 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2025

Cross-species Transmission and Host Adaptation of Feline Leukaemia Virus between Domestic Cats and the Wild Felid Leopardus guigna.

2.Feline leukaemia virus (FeLV) is widespread in domestic cats and frequently spills over into wild felid populations, causing severe outbreaks in non-domestic felid populations. Domestic cats carry both endogenous FeLV (enFeLV) and exogenous variants of FeLV (exFeLV), which can recombine to generate novel variants with alternate receptor usage. In contrast, most non-domestic felids, including the guigna are lack enFeLV This study applied amplification of the FeLV envelope gene combined with Illumina sequencing to characterise FeLV envelope gene diversity and transmission dynamics in guignas (Leopardus guigna), a small wild felid native to Chile and Argentina. Seven PCR amplicons from five free ranging guignas were sequenced. Illumina contigs demonstrated that infections originated from Chilean domestic cats; however, a distinct guigna-specific cluster with unique sequence variations was identified, suggesting that FeLV transmission also occurs among guignas independent of domestic cats. Phylogenetic analysis showed that all guigna sequences formed a Chile-specific FeLV clade, closely related to domestic cat viruses but clearly separated from international FeLV-A strains.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2020

Sarcoptic mange; an emerging threat to Chilean wild mammals?

Sarcoptic mange has been anecdotally reported in Chilean wildlife during the last decade. Although this disease can have devastating outcomes for biodiversity, there is no comprehensive assessment of this potential threat in Chile. Because the current capacity to monitor sarcoptic mange and other wildlife diseases is limited in this country, we used abnormal alopecia to search for suspect cases across several sources of information to identify, to the extent available data allow, the location and temporal trends of wild mammals with this characteristic across Chile. We surveyed park rangers, examined rehabilitation center databases, and collated citizen and media reports. The information gathered suggests that observations of alopecic wild mammals, mainly foxes (Lycalopex sp.), their presence in the country, and the number of species fulfilling our case definition have increased over the last 15 years. Moreover, abnormally alopecic mammals are currently located broadly in Chile. We also confirmed the utility of abnormal alopecia to define a suspect sarcoptic mange case in the most commonly affected group, Lycalopex foxes. Our findings are highly concerning from a conservation perspective. We thus emphasize the need for an urgent surveillance and management plan for sarcoptic mange and other diseases that may be threatening Chilean biodiversity.

ecology↗