Genetic Tracking of a Rabid Coyote (Canis latrans) Detected beyond a Rabies Enzootic Area in West Virginia, USA

Authors

Matthew W. Hopken, United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Pplant Health Inspection Service, Wildliefe Services, National Wildlife Research Center, Fort Collins, ColoradoFollow
Crystal Gigante, United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Division of High-Consequence Pathogens and Pathology, Poxvirus and Rabies Branch
Amy T. Gilbert, United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Pplant Health Inspection Service, Wildliefe Services, National Wildlife Research Center, Fort Collins, ColoradoFollow
Richard B. Chipman, United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Wildlife Services, National Rabies Management Program, Concord, New HampshireFollow
Jordana D. Kirby, United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Wildlife Services, National Rabies Management Program, Concord, New HampshireFollow
Rene Edgar Condori, United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Division of High-Consequence Pathogens and Pathology, Poxvirus and Rabies Branch
Samuel Mills, United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Wildlife Services, Elkins, West Virginia
Chelsea Hartley, United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Wildlife Services, Elkins, West Virginia
John Forbes, United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Wildlife Services, Elkins, West Virginia
Lisa Dettinger, Pennsylvania Department of Health, Bureau of Laboratories
Dongxiang Xia, Pennsylvania Department of Health, Bureau of Laboratories
Yu Li, United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Division of High-Consequence Pathogens and Pathology, Poxvirus and Rabies Branch
Bridgett vonHoldt, Princeton University

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

2024

Citation

Journal of Wildlife Diseases (2024) 60(3): 745–752

doi: 10.7589/JWD-D-23-00158

Comments

United States government work

Abstract

Wildlife translocation and cross-species transmission can impede control and elimination of emerging zoonotic diseases. Tracking the geographic origin of both host and virus (i.e., translocation versus local infection) may help determine the most effective response when high-risk cases of emerging pathogens are identified in wildlife. In May 2022, a coyote (Canis latrans) infected with the raccoon (Procyon lotor) rabies virus variant (RRV) was collected in Lewis County, West Virginia, USA, an area free from RRV. We applied host population genomics and RRV phylogenetic analyses to determine the most likely geographic origin of the rabid coyote. Coyote genomic analyses included animals from multiple eastern states bordering West Virginia, with the probable origin of the rabid coyote being the county of collection. The RRV phylogenetic analyses included cases detected from West Virginia and neighboring states, with most similar RRV sequences collected in a county 80 km to the northeast, within the oral rabies vaccination zone. The combined results suggest that the coyote was infected in an RRV management area and carried the RRV to Lewis County, a pattern consistent with coyote local movement ecology. Distant cross-species transmission and subsequent host movement presents a low risk for onward transmission in raccoon populations. This information helped with emergency response decision-making, thereby saving time and resources.