Wildlife Animal User Training

1
Wildlife Animal User Training

• The University of Montana
• Institutional Animal Care Use Committee

2
Objectives

• Ensuring safety
• Of you your co-workers
• Of animals
• Occupational health program
• Review of zoonotic diseases of wildlife

3
Protecting Yourself

• Situation awareness
• Perception of environmental elements within a
  volume of time and space, the comprehension of
  their meaning, and the projection of their status
  in the near future Endsley, M. R. (1995)
• Knowing what is going on so you can figure out
  what to do Adam, E. C. (1993)

4
Situation Awareness

• Necessary components
• Knowledge of environment, terrain their special
  concerns
• Anticipation of changing conditions
• Rapid collection processing of new information
• Training in how to respond appropriately
• Always staying alert engaged

5
Special Environments

• Desert/arid conditions
• Hyperthermia
• Dehydration
• Winter/mountainous conditions
• Hypothermia
• Frostbite
• Avalanche
• Snow blindness

6
Lack of or Inadequate Situation Awareness
One of the primary factors in accidents
attributed to human error
7
Safety Training

• Single most important component of being prepared
  staying safe
• Training provided by principal investigator (PI)
  may include
• Survival
• Injury prevention
• First aid
• Team communication

8
Common Field Injuries

• Knee ankle from slips falls
• Stings bites
• Known allergy? ? carry
• MD-prescribed
• epinephrine pen
• (epi pen)
• Muscle strain from lifting or falling

9
Common Field Injuries

• Driving accidents can result in serious injury or
  death
• Highway
• Off-road vehicles
• ATVs, snow mobiles
• Proper training
• required
• ALWAYS wear
• a HELMET

10
Basic Personal Safety

• Use appropriate Personal Protective Equipment
  (PPE)
• As necessary,
• Gloves
• Sturdy boots
• Eye protection
• Coveralls
• Mask or respirator

11
Basic Safety Principles

• Sharps containers ? small sizes available for
  field work
• Good hygiene ? especially hands ? waterless hand
  sanitizer (2 4.5 oz bottles)
• Protect human food and water
• Communicate with your team

12
In Case of Accident . . .

• Seek medical attention as necessary
• Work related? ? tell medical provider
• Workers comp claim
• Supervisor will have forms or find at
  http//www.umt.edu/research/eh/wc.htm
• Accident reporting packet in glove box of UM
  vehicles
• Non-UM rented vehicle? Find forms at
  http//www.umt.edu/research/eh/accidents.htm

13
Injury from Animals

• Bites/scratches
• Clean disinfect ASAP
• Consider aspirin, acetaminophen, or ibuprofen for
  pain/inflammation
• Antibiotics from MD may be needed
• Kicks/blunt trauma
• Large ruminants ? blows to the head, chest or
  abdomen can cause internal injuries
• First aid, then medical attention

14
Early Reporting of Injury

• Absolutely imperative to inform
• Direct Supervisor
• Principal Investigator
• Co-workers when in remote field areas
• Any unusual symptoms ? seek medical help
  immediately
• Best defense is a good offense ? Provide a
  complete history to assist physicians

15
Keeping Animals Safe

• Situation Awareness
• Knowledge
• Training
• Co-workers

Group training in blood collection before going
to the field
16
Danger to You? Danger to Them

• Weather danger
• Heat
• Overheating, dehydration
• Heat stress (including fish) ? all magnified by
  capture
• Trap/capture cool times of day provide shade
• Provide moist food to prevent dehydration
• Cool packs for drugged animals
• Reduce stress ? minimize shrill noises, cover
  eyes, monitor for shock

17
Weather Danger

• Cold
• Hypothermia, slowed metabolism anesthetic
  recovery
• Warm packs for anesthetized animals
• Provide nest material for warmth
• Provide food for energy
• Monitor body temperature vital signs

18
Euthanasia

• IACUC requires each Animal Use Protocol (AUP) to
  have a euthanasia contingency plan for serious
  injury
• Serious injury compound fractures, gaping
  wounds to chest/abdomen, severe unresponsive
  shock, head trauma that precludes survival in
  the wild
• 2007 AVMA Guidelines on Euthanasia
• http//www.umt.edu/iacuc/vetguidelines/euthanasia
  .htm

19
Occupational Health

• Why?
• Mandatory for UM to maintain animal research
  program accreditation
• Why us?
• Everyone listed on an AUP must and any one else
  interested may participate

20
Risk Assessment

• IACUC sponsored occupational health monitoring
  program to protect you
• Risk assessment performed by occupational health
  physician based on info you provide
• All medical info stored confidentially at
  physicians office
• http//www.umt.edu/iacuc/ohs/riskassessment.htm

21
Review Zoonotic Diseases

• Zoonosis review is a requirement for
  accreditation of UM animal research program
• Zoonosis disease that can be transferred from
  animals to humans
• Many of the diseases reviewed may be transferred
  from tissues body fluids of dead or live animals

22
Rabies

• Rhabdovirus
• Fatal if no treatment or vaccine protection
• Infects all warm-blooded mammals
• Sylvatic rabies ? wildlife in life cycle
• Ole Yeller
• Photo credits - CDC

Mad Rabies
23
Rabies

• Dumb rabies
• Wildlife
• Lose fear of humans
• Unusually friendly
• Uncharacteristic places
• Uncharacteristic times of day
• Neurological signs
• Photo credits - CDC

Rabid fox
24
Rabies

• Wildlife reservoirs in US in 2001
• Raccoons (38)
• Skunks (30)
• Bats (17)
• Foxes (6)
• Photo credits - CDC

Silver-haired bat
25
Rabies Incidence in U.S.
26
Rabies Transmission

• Animal bites (virus in saliva)
• Contamination of broken skin
• Aerosol in bat caves
• Corneal, liver, kidney transplant from infected
  donor
• 1-2 human cases/year in U.S. most often
  bat-associated

27
Rabies Clinical Signs

• 75 humans ill lt 90 days after bite wound
• Nausea, vomiting, headache
• Tingling and pain on side of body where bite
  located
• Furious and paralytic forms
• Cause of death usually respiratory failure during
  paralytic phase

CDC
Negri bodies large pink inclusions in cytoplasm
of brain cells diagnose Rabies
28
Rabies Prevention

• Avoid close contact with wild animals exhibiting
  unusual behavior
• Consider pre-exposure immunization if work is
  high-risk
• Report animal bites immediately post-exposure
  treatment should start within 24 hours

29
Hantavirus

• Hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS)
• 1993 - Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS)
• Sin Nombre virus
• Wildlife reservoir - Peromyscus maniculatus

CDC
CDC
30
Sin Nombre Incidence in U.S.
31
Sin Nombre Transmission

• Aerosol of deer mouse urine or feces
• Contaminated hands ? mucous membranes
• Contaminated food
• Bite transmission rare
• 30-35 fatality rate

32
Sin Nombre Clinical Signs

• Incubation 9 to 33 days
• High fever, malaise, muscle or joint aches,
  nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headaches,
  respiratory distress, cough

CDC
Early stage of disease
CDC
Middle stage of disease
33
Sin Nombre Prevention

• Personal protective equipment
• Gloves, coveralls, boots
• Work upwind of animals
• Work in the sun, if possible
• Wear a respirator
• Fit-test through Environmental Health Risk
  Management

34
Plague

• Yersinia pestis
• Nonmotile, Gram rod
• Black Death
• 3 forms (mortality)
• Bubonic
• Septicemic (5-50)
• Pneumonic (20)

CDC
Gangrene of fingers a complication of plague
35
Plague
Prairie Dog

• gt 200 species rodent reservoirs prairie dogs,
  rats, marmots, hares, chipmunks, ground squirrels
• Xenopsylla cheopis rat flea regurgitates up to
  20,000 plague bacteria from blocked gut

CDC
CDC
36
Plague in Animals

• Pin-point hemorrhage ? petechiae
• Swollen lymph nodes
• Respiratory disease
• Photo credits - CDC

37
Plague Transmission

• Bites of infected rodent fleas
• Entry into breaks in skin when handling infected
  rodents or rabbits wild carnivores that eat
  infected prey
• Domestic cats highly susceptible aerosol or
  handling
• Dogs and cats can carry rat fleas

38
Plague Clinical Signs

• Illness 2-6 days after infection
• Swollen lymph gland, fever, chills, headache,
  extreme exhaustion
• Photo credits - CDC

39
Plague Clinical Signs

• Cough, bloody sputum, increased heart rate,
  shock, DIC
• Gangrene of fingers and toes

CDC
1 month after finger amputation for gangrene
40
Plague Prevention

• Prevent flea infestation
• Handle wild rodents with appropriate PPE
• Do not handle wild rodents with petechial
  hemorrhages
• Four Corners area of the US high incidence

41
Tularemia

• Francisella tularensis
• Aerobic, gram - coccobacillus
• gt 10 organisms
• 1.4 fatality rate
• Arthropods in life cycle

CDC
Rhipicephalus sanguineus Brown dog tick
42
Tularemia Transmission

• Bites by infected arthropods
• Ticks
• Handling infectious tissues
• Contaminated food, water, soil
• Inhalation of infective aerosols
• No human to human transmission

43
Tularemia Clinical Signs

• Fever, headache, chills, body aches (low back),
  nasal discharge, sore throat
• Substernal pain, cough, anorexia, weight loss,
  weakness

CDC
CDC
44
Tularemia Prevention

• Personal protective equipment when skinning hares
  or rodents
• Check for ticks daily remove
• Use repellants if possible

CDC
Wild hare common culprit for disease
transmission to hunters from bare-handed field
skinning
45
West Nile Virus

• Flavivirus
• 1999 - in US
• Horses humans ? encephalitis
• Bird reservoirs corvids
• Spread by mosquitoes

CDC
CDC
Ochlerotatus japonicus
46
WNV Clinical Signs

• Incubation 3-14 days
• 80 infected humans show no symptoms
• 20 mild symptoms fever, headache, body aches,
  nausea, rash
• 1 in 150 infected ? severe disease (e.g., stupor,
  coma, convulsions, paralysis)

47
West Nile Virus in the U.S.
48
West Nile Virus Prevention

• Long-sleeved shirts and long pants, when possible
• Bug Tamer apparel (Shannon Outdoors, Inc)
• Mosquito repellant DEET for skin
• Avoid dusk to dawn hours outside
• Avoid areas of standing water
• http//www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/westnile/recout.ht
  ml

49
Q Fever

• Coxiella burnetti
• Sheep, goats, cattle
• 1 organism can cause disease
• Placental tissues
• Spread by
• Aerosol
• Hands

CDC
CDC
50
Q Fever Clinical Signs

• 50 infected get ill in 2-3 weeks
• 30-50 infected get pneumonia
• Headache, malaise, muscle aches, confusion, GI
  signs, weight loss, hepatitis
• 1-2 fatality rate
• Chronic infection ? endocarditis
• 65 chronic cases end in death

51
LCM

• Lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus
• 5 Mus musculus in US wild mice pet hamsters
• Saliva, urine, feces of infected rodents
• Mucous membranes, broken skin, bites

Hamster
Peromyscus sp.
52
LCM Clinical Signs

• Humans showing illness ? signs 8-13 days
  post-infection
• Early biphasic fever, malaise, muscle aches,
  headache, nausea, vomiting
• Later headache, stiff neck, confusion,
  neurological signs
• Early pregnancy abortion or fetal birth defects
• Fatality rate lt 1