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Rangelands are multi-use landscapes which are socially and ecologically important in different ways. Among other interactions, shared use of rangelands by wildlife and livestock can lead to disease transmission. Understanding wildlife and livestock health and managing disease transmission in rangelands requires an integration of social and ecological knowledge. Using the example of Western Kazakhstan, home to two types of ungulate hosts, the critically endangered saiga antelopes, Saiga tatarica, and livestock, we conducted a cross-scale analysis of social-economic, ecological and climatic factors that contribute to transmission of diseases We focused on gastrointestinal nematodes (GINs) because they are transmitted between hosts that share pasture and they affect ungulate fitness. We used an interdisciplinary social–ecological methods approach which included conducting faecal egg counts of GINs in saigas and livestock, semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions with livestock owners and herders in the region, and triangulation of information through secondary sources. Livestock rearing was done in two ways: (a) village-based livestock and (b) outlying farms. The latter overlapped more with saigas. Village-based livestock had significantly higher worm burdens than those on outlying farms, which had comparable burdens to saigas. Various factors exacerbate GIN prevalence and transmission: Veterinary services are minimal; both saiga and livestock numbers are increasing; and changing climate is increasing farmers' dependence on shared pastures for hay production. It will be crucial for saiga conservationists to engage in multi-pronged conservation interventions, which are evaluated and adapted through the lens of rural livelihoods and the livestock health on which they depend. Our work provides researchers and practitioners with an avenue to better understand complex inter-relationships and plan interventions within rangelands, while viewing host health from an interdisciplinary perspective—ultimately working towards wildlife conservation while safeguarding livelihoods across the world's rangelands. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.

12 páginas, 4 figuras, 4 tablas., We report a European wide assessment of the economic burden of gastrointestinal nematodes, Fasciola hepatica (common liver fluke) and Dictyocaulus viviparus (bovine lungworm) infections to the ruminant livestock industry. The economic impact of these parasitic helminth infections was estimated by a deterministic spreadsheet model as a function of the proportion of the ruminant population exposed to grazing, the infection frequency and intensity, the effect of the infection on animal productivity and mortality and anthelmintic treatment costs. In addition, we estimated the costs of anthelmintic resistant nematode infections and collected information on public research budgets addressing helminth infections in ruminant livestock. The epidemiologic and economic input data were collected from international databases and via expert opinion of the Working Group members of the European Co-operation in Science and Technology (COST) action COMbatting Anthelmintic Resistance in ruminants (COMBAR). In order to reflect the effects of uncertainty in the input data, low and high cost estimates were obtained by varying uncertain input data arbitrarily in both directions by 20 %. The combined annual cost [low estimate-high estimate] of the three helminth infections in 18 participating countries was estimated at € 1.8 billion [€ 1.0–2.7 billion]. Eighty-one percent of this cost was due to lost production and 19 % was attributed to treatment costs. The cost of gastrointestinal nematode infections with resistance against macrocyclic lactones was estimated to be € 38 million [€ 11–87 million] annually. The annual estimated costs of helminth infections per sector were € 941 million [€ 488 – 1442 million] in dairy cattle, € 423 million [€ 205–663 million] in beef cattle, € 151million [€ 90–213 million] in dairy sheep, € 206 million [€ 132–248 million] in meat sheep and € 86 million [€ 67–107 million] in dairy goats. Important data gaps were present in all phases of the calculations which lead to large uncertainties around the estimates. Accessibility of more granular animal population datasets at EU level, deeper knowledge of the effects of infection on production, levels of infection and livestock grazing exposure across Europe would make the largest contribution to improved burden assessments. The known current public investment in research on helminth control was 0.15 % of the estimated annual costs for the considered parasitic diseases. Our data suggest that the costs of enzootic helminth infections which usually occur at high prevalence annually in ruminants, are similar or higher than reported costs of epizootic diseases. Our data can support decision making in research and policy to mitigate the negative impacts of helminth infections and anthelmintic resistance in Europe, and provide a baseline against which to measure future changes., This article is based upon work from COST Action COMBAR CA16230, supported by COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) and from the Livestock helminth Research Alliance (LiHRA). HRV and ERM are supported by the BBSRC BUG (Building on the Genome) sLoLa project (grant ref: BB/M003949/1, and BB/ R010250/1). HRV is also supported by the University of Liverpool’s Institute of Infection and Global Health. MMV was funded by the Spanish “Ramón y Cajal” Programme, Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad; RYC-2015-18368).

Infections with parasitic helminths (nematodes and trematodes) represent a significant economic and welfare burden to the global ruminant livestock industry. The increasing prevalence of anthelmintic resistance means that current control programmes are costly and unsustainable in the long term. Recent changes in the epidemiology, seasonality and geographic distribution of helminth infections have been attributed to climate change. However, other changes in environment (e.g., land use) and in livestock farming, such as intensification and altered management practices, will also have an impact on helminth infections. Sustainable control of helminth infections in a changing world requires detailed knowledge of these interactions. In particular, there is a need to devise new, sustainable strategies for the effective control of ruminant helminthoses in the face of global change. In this paper, we consider the impact of helminth infections in grazing ruminants, taking a European perspective, and identify scientific and applied priorities to mitigate these impacts. These include the development and deployment of efficient, high- throughput diagnostic tests to support targeted intervention, modelling of geographic and seasonal trends in infection, more thorough economic data and analysis of the impact of helminth infections and greater translation and involvement of end-users in devising and disseminating best practices. Complex changes in helminth epidemiology will require innovative solutions. By developing and using new technologies and models, the use of anthelmintics can be optimised to limit the development and spread of drug resistance and to reduce the overall economic impact of helminth infections. This will be essential to the continued productivity and profitability of livestock farming in Europe and its contribution to regional and global food security. View Full-Text