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ABSTRACT Bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) across North America have suffered population losses due to polymicrobial pneumonia typically initiated by spillover events of bacteria from domestic sheep and goats. Because vaccination or treatment of individual animals remains an elusive goal and pneumonia often persists in bighorn herds for years or decades following infection, preventing contact between domestic and wild animals is widely accepted as the best prophylactic. For the past decade, most management efforts have focused on the risks associated with commercial sheep grazing on public lands; less attention has been paid to risks to bighorns from small flocks of domestic sheep and goats managed entirely on private land. We surveyed owners of 40 sheep or goat flocks located near bighorn sheep herds in central and southeastern Washington, USA, during 2014 and 2015, to better understand their knowledge level, management practices, and willingness to reduce risks. Over one‐third of sheep or goat owners had no knowledge of the potential for pathogen spillover to bighorns, but all were interested in reducing risk of interacting with bighorns, particularly by options that did not restrict their autonomy. We also sampled nasal mucosae of 137 animals in 24 flocks for presence of Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae, the bacterium most closely associated with bighorn pneumonia. M. ovipneumoniae was detected in 37.5% of sheep or goat flocks sampled, and animals had escaped their enclosures in 78% of these. Physical contact, and thus pathogen spillover from domestic sheep or goats living in small, private flocks in close proximity to bighorns is clearly a risk. We provide recommendations to agency staff on identifying, prioritizing and testing small herds, and then working with owners to reduce the risk of pathogen spillover. © 2016 The Wildlife Society.

ABSTRACT Infectious disease contributed to historical declines and extirpations of bighorn sheep ( Ovis canadensis) in North America and continues to impede population restoration and management. Reports of pneumonia outbreaks in free-ranging bighorn sheep following contact with domestic sheep have been validated by the results of 13 captive commingling experiments. However, ecological and etiological complexities still hinder our understanding and control of respiratory disease in wild sheep. In this paper, we review the literature and summarize recent data to present an overview of the biology and management of pneumonia in bighorn sheep. Many factors contribute to this population-limiting disease, but a bacterium ( Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae) host-specific to Caprinae and commonly carried by healthy domestic sheep and goats, appears to be a primary agent necessary for initiating epizootics. All-age epizootics are usually associated with significant population declines, but mortality rates vary widely and factors influencing disease severity are not well understood. Once introduced, M. ovipneumoniae can persist in bighorn sheep populations for decades. Carrier females may transmit the pathogen to their susceptible lambs, triggering fatal pneumonia outbreaks in nursery groups, which limit recruitment and slow or prevent population recovery. The demographic costs of disease persistence can be equal to or greater than the impacts of the initial epizootic. Strain typing suggests that spillover of M. ovipneumoniae into bighorn sheep populations from domestic small ruminants is ongoing and that consequences of spillover are amplified by movements of infected bighorn sheep across populations. Therefore, current disease management strategies focus on reducing risk of spillover from reservoir populations of domestic sheep and goats and on limiting transmission among bighorn sheep. A variety of techniques are employed to prevent contacts that could lead to transmission, including limiting the numbers and distribution of both wild and domestic species. No vaccine or antibiotic treatment has controlled infection in domestic or wild sheep and to date, management actions have been unsuccessful at reducing morbidity, mortality, or disease spread once a bighorn sheep population has been exposed. More effective strategies are needed to prevent pathogen introduction, induce disease fadeout in persistently infected populations, and promote population resilience across the diverse landscapes bighorn sheep inhabit. A comprehensive examination of disease dynamics across populations could help elucidate how disease sometimes fades out naturally and whether population resilience can be increased in the face of infection. Cross-jurisdictional adaptive management experiments and transdisciplinary collaboration, including partnerships with members of the domestic sheep and goat community, are needed to speed progress toward sustainable solutions to protect and restore bighorn sheep populations. © 2017 The Wildlife Society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Bighorn sheep ( Ovis canadensis) across North America have suffered population losses due to polymicrobial pneumonia typically initiated by spillover events of bacteria from domestic sheep and goats. Because vaccination or treatment of individual animals remains an elusive goal and pneumonia often persists in bighorn herds for years or decades following infection, preventing contact between domestic and wild animals is widely accepted as the best prophylactic. For the past decade, most management efforts have focused on the risks associated with commercial sheep grazing on public lands; less attention has been paid to risks to bighorns from small flocks of domestic sheep and goats managed entirely on private land. We surveyed owners of 40 sheep or goat flocks located near bighorn sheep herds in central and southeastern Washington, USA, during 2014 and 2015, to better understand their knowledge level, management practices, and willingness to reduce risks. Over one-third of sheep or goat owners had no knowledge of the potential for pathogen spillover to bighorns, but all were interested in reducing risk of interacting with bighorns, particularly by options that did not restrict their autonomy. We also sampled nasal mucosae of 137 animals in 24 flocks for presence of Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae, the bacterium most closely associated with bighorn pneumonia. M. ovipneumoniae was detected in 37.5% of sheep or goat flocks sampled, and animals had escaped their enclosures in 78% of these. Physical contact, and thus pathogen spillover from domestic sheep or goats living in small, private flocks in close proximity to bighorns is clearly a risk. We provide recommendations to agency staff on identifying, prioritizing and testing small herds, and then working with owners to reduce the risk of pathogen spillover. © 2016 The Wildlife Society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]