The circular plot visualizes the dispersal flows of dogs with owners residing in upper study region.

The source and destinations of dogs are each assigned a colour and are represented by the circle’s segments. The direction of the flow is encoded by the origin colour and the direction of the arrows. The volume of movement is indicated by the width of the flow. Because the flow width is nonlinearly adapted to the curvature, it corresponds to the flow size only at the beginning and end points. ‘Others’ represents locations excluded from the analyses: Chame, Tankchok, Timang, Tache, Sapche, Nar, Ghorka, and Humdre. Sectors are arranged in proximity to each other, i.e. Manang is the neighbouring village west of Bhraka, and Ngawal is the neighbouring village east of Pisang.</p

Distribution of dog variables across the study area and within each of the four village clusters.

Data from 71 individual dogs from distinct households were used in the analyses. Note that for all variables the sample size totals 71, except for CDV (n = 68).</p

Canine distemper in Nepal's Annapurna Conservation Area – Implications of dog husbandry and human behaviour for wildlife disease

Dogs are often commensal with human settlements. In areas where settlements are adjacent to wildlife habitat, the management of dogs can affect risk of spillover of disease to wildlife. We assess dog husbandry practices, and measure the prevalence of Canine Distemper Virus (CDV) in dogs, in 10 villages in Nepal’s Annapurna Conservation Area (ACA), an important region for Himalayan wildlife. A high proportion (58%) of owned dogs were allowed by their owners to roam freely, and many village dogs originated from urban areas outside the region. CDV antibodies, indicating past exposure, were detected in 70% of dogs, and 13% were positive for P-gene, suggesting current circulation of CDV. This is the first detection of canine distemper virus in a National Park in Nepal Himalaya. Dogs were generally in good condition, and none exhibited clinical signs of CDV infection, which suggests that infections were asymptomatic. CDV exposure varied with village location and age of dogs, but this variation was minor, consistent with high rates of movement of dogs across the region maintaining high seroprevalence. Residents reported the occurrence of several species of wild carnivores in or close to villages. These results suggest a high potential for transmission of CDV from village dogs to wild carnivores in ACA. We suggest that control of dog immigration, along with vaccination and neutering of dogs could mitigate the risk of CDV spillover into wild carnivore populations.</div

Canine distemper in Nepal's Annapurna Conservation Area – Implications of dog husbandry and human behaviour for wildlife disease - Fig 4

Results for AIC analyses for the most parsimonious models (ΔAIC The confidence intervals for the variables “age” and “site” were relatively wide compared to the other variables and were removed. The 95% CI for Age: 5–12 months, Age: >12 months, and Site: Manang, were ±2.677e+03, ±2.677e+03, and ±1.944e+03 respectively. Age group appeared to have some effect on CDV seroprevalence but coefficients overlapping zero indicate that these were not useful predictors.</p

Canine distemper in Nepal's Annapurna Conservation Area – Implications of dog husbandry and human behaviour for wildlife disease - Fig 1

Results for AIC analyses for the most parsimonious models (ΔAIC While models presented that household income had the greatest relative importance when predicting the number of dogs per household, variable coefficients overlapping zero suggest that these were not useful predictors.</p

Canine distemper in Nepal's Annapurna Conservation Area – Implications of dog husbandry and human behaviour for wildlife disease - Fig 3

(A) Percentage of ELISA-positive and (B) PCR-positive dogs at each site, and 95% confidence intervals. Only samples that were ELISA-positive, and which had sufficient blood, were analysed for P-gene with PCR.</p