The investigation involved 52 cases of wildebeest-derived malignant catarrhal fever in 1986 and 1989 in a herd of cattle kept in camps adjacent to a game farm harbouring a herd of approximately 330 blue wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus). In the outbreaks, 34 cows and 18 calves died as result of the disease. The exceptionally high incidence of the disease in both cows and their calves, the low ...

Malignant Catarrhal Fever (MCF), a fatal disease of a large number of different ruminants, is caused by infection with either a blue or black wildebeest-associated alcephaline herpesvirus 1 (AlHV-1) or the sheep-associated ovine herpes virus 2 (OvHV-2).Wildebeest and sheep are the natural hosts of these viruses respectively. Both these forms of MCF are of great economic importance, particularly...

The numbers and species of helminths recovered from one black wildebeest, Connochaetes gnou, three eland, Taurotragus oryx, 18 mountain reedbuck, Redunca fulvorufula, one red hartebeest, AIcelaphus buselaphus and two springbok, Antidorcas marsupialis, in the Mountain Zebra National Park, Eastern Cape Province; two black wildebeest, two grey rhebuck, Pelea capreolus, two mountain reedbuck and fo...

Heat stress can limit the activity time budget of ungulates due to hyperthermia, which is relevant for African antelopes in ecosystems where temperature routinely increases above 40 °C. Body size influences this thermal sensitivity as large bodied ungulates have a lower surface area to volume ratio than smaller ungulates, and therefore a reduced heat dissipation capacity. We tested whether the ...

Malignant catarrhal fever (MCF) is a fatal lymphoproliferative disease of cattle that, in East Africa, results from transmission of the causative virus, alcelaphine herpesvirus 1 (AlHV-1), from wildebeest. A vaccine field trial involving an attenuated AlHV-1 virus vaccine was performed over two wildebeest calving seasons on the Simanjiro Plain of northern Tanzania. Each of the two phases of the...

Theileria is a genus of tick-borne protozoan that is globally widespread and infects nearly all ungulates in which they cause either latent infection or lethal disease. Wild animals are considered reservoir hosts of many species of Theileria and their diversity in wildlife species is increasingly becoming of interest. The molecular characterization and identification of Theileria infecting wild...

Accurate and on-demand animal population counts are the holy grail for wildlife conservation organizations throughout the world because they enable fast and responsive adaptive management policies. While the collection of image data from camera traps, satellites, and manned or unmanned aircraft has advanced significantly, the detection and identification of animals within images remains a major...