Long‐term carriage of Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae in bighorn sheep and implications for test‐and‐remove protocols
10 affiliations
- 1Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources University of Wyoming Laramie Wyoming USA
- 2Wyoming Game and Fish Department Cody Wyoming USA
- 3Wyoming Game and Fish Department Jackson Wyoming USA
- 4Wyoming Game and Fish Department Lander Wyoming USA
- 5United States Fish and Wildlife Service Lander Wyoming USA
- 6Shoshone and Arapahoe Fish and Game Department Fort Washakie Wyoming USA
- 7Wyoming Game and Fish Department Pinedale Wyoming USA
- 8United States Forest Service, Big Piney Ranger District Big Piney Wyoming USA
- 9Wyoming Game and Fish Department Laramie Wyoming USA
- 10Department of Veterinary Sciences University of Wyoming Laramie Wyoming USA
Abstract
Mitigating disease in wild populations is challenging, especially for endemic infections. Removal of infected individuals can be a viable strategy but requires careful consideration of protocols, desired outcomes, and allowable loss. Pneumonia has devastated bighorn sheep populations in North America for decades, presenting persistent management and conservation challenges. Animals that are chronically infected with Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae (M. ovi) are thought to be responsible for the persistence of M. ovi in a population and removing chronic carriers (i.e., test and remove) has been a promising management tool to mitigate pneumonia. Although selective removal of chronic carriers has the potential to reduce pathogen prevalence, patterns of M. ovi carriage are not well understood, which can hinder designing the most effective test‐and‐remove protocols. Using data across 8 years and four populations of bighorn sheep, we aim to understand patterns of pathogen carriage across an animal's life and to evaluate removal outcomes of hypothetical test‐and‐remove scenarios to help inform protocols of test‐and‐remove efforts. Pathogen prevalence was seasonal—animals were 1.62 (SE = 0.39) times more likely to test positive for M. ovi in spring than in autumn. Further, an animal that tested positive in autumn was more likely to test positive again the following season compared with an animal that tested positive in spring, which has implications for when to test animals during a test‐and‐remove effort if the goal is to identify animals that consistently test positive (i.e., chronic carriers). On average, an animal that tested positive for M. ovi had a 21%–55% chance of testing positive again the following year, indicating chronic carriage. Hypothetical test‐and‐remove scenarios illustrated that the use of a single positive test for removal criteria could increase the number of animals removed by 12 or 23 percentage points compared with scenarios focusing removal on only chronic carriers, depending on the timing of testing. Overall, we highlight the consequences for animal removals based on the timing of testing and defining removal criteria to help inform test‐and‐remove efforts.
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BibTeX
@article{wagler2026longterm,
title = {{Long‐term carriage of Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae in bighorn sheep and implications for test‐and‐remove protocols}},
author = {Brittany L. Wagler and Rachel A. Smiley and Jack N. Gavin and Tony W. Mong and Corey Class and Alyson B. Courtemanch and Cheyenne Stewart and Daryl Lutz and Zach Gregory and Patrick Hnilicka and Arthur Lawson and Brandon Scurlock and Rusty C. Kaiser and Jessica Jennings‐Gaines and Jennifer L. Malmberg and Kevin L. Monteith},
journal = {Ecosphere},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1002/ecs2.70766},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.70766},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Long‐term carriage of Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae in bighorn sheep and implications for test‐and‐remove protocols
AU - Brittany L. Wagler
AU - Rachel A. Smiley
AU - Jack N. Gavin
AU - Tony W. Mong
AU - Corey Class
AU - Alyson B. Courtemanch
AU - Cheyenne Stewart
AU - Daryl Lutz
AU - Zach Gregory
AU - Patrick Hnilicka
AU - Arthur Lawson
AU - Brandon Scurlock
AU - Rusty C. Kaiser
AU - Jessica Jennings‐Gaines
AU - Jennifer L. Malmberg
AU - Kevin L. Monteith
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/28
JO - Ecosphere
DO - 10.1002/ecs2.70766
UR - https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.70766
AB - Mitigating disease in wild populations is challenging, especially for endemic infections. Removal of infected individuals can be a viable strategy but requires careful consideration of protocols, desired outcomes, and allowable loss. Pneumonia has devastated bighorn sheep populations in North America for decades, presenting persistent management and conservation challenges. Animals that are chronically infected with Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae (M. ovi) are thought to be responsible for the persistence of M. ovi in a population and removing chronic carriers (i.e., test and remove) has been a promising management tool to mitigate pneumonia. Although selective removal of chronic carriers has the potential to reduce pathogen prevalence, patterns of M. ovi carriage are not well understood, which can hinder designing the most effective test‐and‐remove protocols. Using data across 8 years and four populations of bighorn sheep, we aim to understand patterns of pathogen carriage across an animal's life and to evaluate removal outcomes of hypothetical test‐and‐remove scenarios to help inform protocols of test‐and‐remove efforts. Pathogen prevalence was seasonal—animals were 1.62 (SE = 0.39) times more likely to test positive for M. ovi in spring than in autumn. Further, an animal that tested positive in autumn was more likely to test positive again the following season compared with an animal that tested positive in spring, which has implications for when to test animals during a test‐and‐remove effort if the goal is to identify animals that consistently test positive (i.e., chronic carriers). On average, an animal that tested positive for M. ovi had a 21%–55% chance of testing positive again the following year, indicating chronic carriage. Hypothetical test‐and‐remove scenarios illustrated that the use of a single positive test for removal criteria could increase the number of animals removed by 12 or 23 percentage points compared with scenarios focusing removal on only chronic carriers, depending on the timing of testing. Overall, we highlight the consequences for animal removals based on the timing of testing and defining removal criteria to help inform test‐and‐remove efforts.
SN - 2150-8925
ER -