1998 Volume 3 Issue 1 Pages 1-7
The prevalence of infectious agents, drug resistant-Escherichia coli and residual organochlorine in 14 species of mammals and 20 species of birds was investigated during the period 1991 to 1993. Zoonotic organisms, Yersinia enterocolitica, Y.pseudotuberculosis and Listeria monocytogenes, were isolated from several species of mammals and birds. Furthermore, seroevidence of infection due to the etiological agent of zoonosis, Chlamydia psittaci, Leptospira interrogans, Coxiella burnetii, Borrelia burgdorferi and Hantavirus, was found in many species of wild animals, indicating that many zoonoses are prevalent in wild animals in Japan. Serological surveillance also revealed that the sika deer, wild rats, wild boars, Japanese black bears, foxes and raccoon dogs were infected with canine distemper virus and/or canine adenovirus. Drug resistant-E.coli was isolated from Japanese black bears, rock ptarmigans and Japanese serows which inhabit mountainous areas. Furthermore, a large amount of residual organochlorine was detected in the birds. The amount of residual organochlorine was especially high in raptors, whose numbers are decreasing in Japan. These findings suggest that environmental contamination due to human activities has reached into mountainous areas of Japan.
