Susan Kutz

Professor

NSERC Tier I Canada Research Chair in Arctic One Health

Research Chair

Associate Member

Clinical and Translational Research Group

Full Member

Wildlife Health & Ecology Research Group

DVM, PhD


Contact information

Location

Office : HSC2559

Research and teaching

Research Interests

  • Ecosystem Health
  • Immunology and Infectious Disease
  • Wildlife and Zoo Medicine

Biography

Dr. Susan Kutz is a Professor at the University of Calgary Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, a Canada Research Chair in Arctic One Health, and a fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. Since her first foray into the Arctic in 1988, she has worked there continuously, addressing health at the animal-environment-human interface. In partnership with Indigenous communities, she initiated and maintains community-based wildlife health surveillance programs with the goal of early detection of change in wildlife populations, protection of public health, and facilitating the incorporation of local and traditional knowledge into wildlife co-management. Her research brings local, traditional and scientific knowledge together to understand the impacts of a warming Arctic on the health of muskoxen and caribou and the consequent effects on food security in the Arctic. She is recognized around the Arctic for her wildlife health expertise and co-edited the first edition of the book Reindeer and Caribou Health and Disease. She also pioneered the Northern Community Health rotation in the Sahtu Settlement area in subarctic Canada where she and her team have delivered annual veterinary services to five Dene communities since 2009. In addition to providing essential animal health services, this program provides unique cross-cultural experiential learning opportunities for veterinary students and mentorship in the health sciences for Indigenous youth.  


Publications

Liccioli S, Kutz SJ, Ruckstuhl KE, Massolo A. Spatial heterogeneity and temporal variations in Echinococcus multilocularis infections in wild hosts in a North American urban setting. International Journal for Parasitology (In press).

Gortazar C, Reperant L, Kuiken K, de la Fuente J, Boadella M, Martinez B, Ruiz-Fons J, Estrada-Pena A, Drosten C, Medley G, Ostfeld R, Peterson T, VerCauteren K, Menge C, Kutz S, et al. Crossing the interspecies barrier: Opening the door to zoonotic pathognes. PLOS Pathogens.(In press)

Curry PS, Ribble C, Sears WC, Orsel K, Hutchins W, Godson D, Lindsay R, Dibernardo A, Campbell M, Kutz SJ. Blood collected on filter paper for wildlife serology: Evaluating storage and temperature challenges of field collections. Journal of Wildlife Diseases 50:308-321(2014).

Curry PS, Ribble C, Sears WC, Hutchins W, Orsel K, Godson D, Lindsay R, Dibernardo A, Kutz SJ. Blood collected on filter paper for wildlife serology: Detecting antibodies to Neospora caninum, west nile virus, and five bovine viruses in reindeer. Journal of Wildlife Diseases 50:297-307(2014).

Pruvot M, Kutz S, van der Meer F, Musiani M, Barkema HW, Orsel, K. Pathogens at the livestock-wildlife interface in Western Alberta: Does transmission route matter? Veterinary Research 45:18(2014).

Steele J, Orsel K, Cuyler C, Hoberg EP, Schmidt NM, Kutz SJ. Divergent parasite faunas in adjacent populations of West Greenland caribou: Natural and anthropogenic influences on diversity. International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife 2:197-202(2013).

Behie A, Kutz SJ, Pavelka MSM. Cascading effects of climate change: Do hurricane damaged forests increase risk of exposure to parasites? Biotropica 46:25-31(2013).

Post E, Bhatt US, Bitz CM, Brodie JF, Fulton TL, Hebblewhite M, Kerby J, Kutz SJ, Stirling I, Walker DA. Ecological consequences of sea-ice decline. Science 341:519-524(2013).

Altizer S, Ostfeld RS, Johnson PT, Kutz S, Harvell CD. Climate change and infectious diseases: from evidence to a predictive framework. Science 341:514-519(2013).

Forde T, De Buck J, Elkin B, Kutz S, van der Meer F, Orsel K. Contrasting results of culture-dependent and molecular analyses of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis from wood bison. Applied Environmental Miorobiology 79:4448-4454(2013). 

Molnàr PK, Dobson AP, Kutz SJ. Gimme shelter--the relative sensitivity of parasitic nematodes with direct and indirect life cycles to climate change. Global Change Biology 19:3291-3305(2013).

Kutz SJ, Checkley S,Verocai G,Dumond M,Hoberg E,Peacock R,Wu JP,Orsel K,Seegers K,Warren AL, Abrams A. Invasion, establishment, and range expansion of two parasitic nematodes in the Canadian Arctic. Global Change Biology 19:3254-3262(2013).

Verocai G, Lejeune M, Finstad G, Kutz SJ. A Nearctic parasite in a Palearctic host: Parelaphostrongylus andersoni (Nematoda; Protostrongylidae) infecting semi-domesticated reindeer in Alaska. International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife 2:119-123(2013).

Kutz SJ, Ducrocq J, Cuyler C, Elkin B, Gunn A, Kolpashikov L, Russell, D, White R. Standardized monitoring of Rangifer health during International Polar Year. Rangifer 33:91-114(2013) .

Steele J, Cuyler C, Orsel K, Kutz SJ. Differences in parasite diversity, prevalence, and intensity assessed through analyses of fecal samples from two West Greenland caribou populations. Rangifer 33:177-181(2013) 

Verocai GG, Schock D, Lejeune M, Warren A, Duignan PJ, Kutz JS. Oslerus osleri (Metastrongyloidea; Filaroididae) in grey wolves (Canis lupus) from Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada. Journal of Wildlife Diseases 49:422-426(2013). 

Ducrocq J, Beauchamp G, Kutz SJ, Simard M, Taillon J, Cote SD, Brodeur V, Lair S. Variables associated with Besnoitia tarandi prevalence and density in barren-ground caribou (Rangifer tarandus) populations. Journal of Wildlife Diseases 49:29-38(2013).

Patterson JE, Neuhaus P, Kutz SJ, Ruckstuhl KE. Parasite removal improves reproductive success of female North American red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus). Plos One 8:e55779(2013).

Pruvot, Mathieu; Buck, Jeroen De; Meer, Frank van der; Orsel, Karin; Forde, Taya L; Steele, Jillian; Kutz, Susan J. The modification and evaluation of an ELISA test for the surveillance of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis infection in wild ruminants. BMC Veterinary Research 9:556(2013). 

Parr NA, Fedigan LM, Kutz SJ. A coprological survey of parasites in white-faced capuchins (Cebus capucinus) from sector Santa Rosa, ACG, Costa Rica. Folia Primatologica 84:102-114(2013).

Wu J, Veitch A, Checkley S, Dobson H, Kutz,SJ. Linear enamel hypoplasia in caribou (Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus): a potential tool to assess population health. Wildlife Society Bulletin. 36:554-560(2012). 

Catalano S, Lejeune M, Liccioli S, Verocai GG, Gesy KM, Jenkins EJ, Kutz SJ, Fuentealba C, Duignan PJ, Massolo A. Echinococcus multilocularis in urban and peri-urban Coyotes (Canis latrans) in Alberta, Canada. Emerging Infectious Disease. 18:1625-1628(2012). 

Molnàr P, Kutz SJ, Hoar B, Dobson A. (2012) Metabolic approaches to understanding climate change impacts on seasonal host-macroparasite dynamics. Ecology Letters 16:9-21(2012). doi: 10.1111/ele.12022. 

Forde T, Orsel K, DeBuck J, Côté SD, Cuyler C, Davison T, Elkin B, Kelly A, Kienzler M, Popko R, Taillon J, Veitch A, Kutz SJ. Detection of Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis in several herds of arctic caribou (Rangifer tarandus spp.). Journal of Wildlife Diseases 48: 918-924(2012). 

Liccioli S, Catalono S, Kutz SJ, Lejeune M, Verocai GG, Duignan PJ, Fuentealba C, Hart M, Ruckstuhl K, Massolo A. Gastrointestinal parasites of coyotes (Canis latrans) in the metropolitan area of Calgary, Canada. Canadian Journal of Zoology 90:1023-1030(2012). 

Liccioli S, Catalono S, Kutz SJ, Massolo A. Sensitivity of double centrifugation sugar flotation for detecting gastrointestinal helminths in coyotes (Canis latrans). Journal of Wildlife Diseases 48:717-723(2012). 

Verocai GG, Lejeune M, Beckmen K, Kashivakura CK, Veitch A, Popko R, Fuentealba C, Hoberg E, Kutz JS. Defining parasite biodiversity at high latitudes of North America: new host and geographic records for Onchocerca cervipedis (Nematoda: Onchocercidae) in moose and caribou. Parasites & Vectors 5:242(2012). doi:10.1186/1756-3305-5-242. 

Ducrocq J, Beauchamp G, Kutz S, Simard M, Elkin B, Croft B, Taillon J, Côt& #233 SD, Brodeur V, Campbell M, Cooley D, Cuyler C, Lair S. Comparison of gross visual and microscopic assessment of four anatomic sites to monitor Besnoitia tarandi in barren-ground caribou (Rangifer tarandus) Journal of Wildlife Diseases 48:732-738(2012). 

Forde T, Kutz S, De Buck J, Warren A, Ruckstuhl K, Pybus M, Orsel K. Occurrence, diagnosis, and strain typing of Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis infection in Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis canadensis) in southwestern Alberta. Journal of Wildlife Diseases 48:1-11(2012). 

Galloway JM, Adamczewski J, Schock DM, Andrews TD, MacKay G, Bowyer VE, Meulendyk T, Moorman BJ, Kutz SJ. Diet and habitat of mountain woodland caribou inferred from dung preserved in 5000-year-old alpine ice in the Selwyn Mountains, Northwest Territories, Canada. Arctic 65, Suppl. 1,59-79(2012). 

Hoar B, Eberhardt AG, Kutz S. Obligate larval inhibition of Ostertagia gruehneri in Rangifer tarandus: Causes and consequences in an Arctic system. Parasitology 139:1-7(2012). 

Hoar BM, Ruckstuhl K, Kutz S. Development and availability of the free-living stages of Ostertagia gruehneri, an abomasal parasite of barrenground caribou (Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus), on the Canadian tundra. Parasitology 139:1093-1100(2012). 

Hoberg EP, Abrams A, Pilitt P, Kutz SJ. Discovery and description of the "davtiani" morphotype for Teladorsagia boreoarcticus (Trichostrongyloidea: Ostertagiinae) abomasal parasites in muskoxen, Ovibos moschatusand caribou, Rangifer tarandus from the North American Arctic: implications for parasite faunal diversity. Journal of Parasitology 98:355-364(2012). 

Hoberg EP, Galbreath K, Cook JA, Kutz SJ, Polley L. Northern host-parasite assemblages: history and biogeography on the borderlands of episodic climate and environmental transition. Advances in Parasitology 79:1-97(2012). 

Koren L, Whiteside D, Fahlman A, Ruckstuhl K, Kutz SJ, Checkley S, Dumond M, Wynne-Edwards K. Cortisol and corticosterone independence in cortisol-dominant wildlife. General and comparative endocrinology 177:113-119(2012). 

Kutz SJ, Ducrocq J, Verocai GG, Hoar BM, Colwell DD, Beckmen K, Polley L, Elkin BT, Hoberg EP. Parasites of ungulates of arctic North America and Greenland: A view of contemporary diversity, ecology, and impact in a world under change. Advances in Parasitology 79:99-252(2012). 

Joffe D, Van Niekerk D, Gagné F, Gilleard J, Kutz SJ, Lobingier R. The prevalence of intestinal parasites in dogs and cats in Calgary, Alberta. The Canadian Veterinary Journal. La Revue vétérinaire canadienne 52:1323-1328(2011).

Ellis J, Anseeuw E, Gow S, Bryan H, Salb A, Goji N, Rhodes C, La Coste S, Smits J, Kutz SJ. Seroepidemiology of respiratory (group 2) canine coronavirus, canine parainfluenza virus, and Bordetella bronchisepticainfections in urban dogs in a humane shelter and in rural dogs in small communities. The Canadian Veterinary Journal. La Revue vétérinaire canadienne 52:861-868(2011).

Davidson R, Simard M, Kutz SJ, Kapel CM, Hamnes IS, Robertson LJ. Arctic parasitology: why should we care? Trends in Parasitology 276:239-245(2011).

Risling T, Fahlman AI, Caulkett NA, Kutz SJ. Physiological and behavioural effects of hypoxemia in reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) immobilized with xylazine-etorphine. Animal Production Science 51:355-358(2011).

Curry PS, Elkin BT, Campbell M, Nielsen K, Hutchins W, Ribble C, Kutz SJ. Expanding the disease surveillance tool box: Blood-on-Filter-Paper for detecting Brucella exposure in caribou. Journal of Wildlife Disease 47:12-20(2011).

Curry PS, Elkin BT, Campbell M, Nielsen K, Hutchins W, Ribble C, Kutz SJ. Filter-paper blood samples for ELISA detection of Brucella antibodies in caribou. Journal of Wildlife Diseases 47:12-20(2011).

Polley L, Hoberg E, and Kutz, S. Climate change, parasites and shifting boundaries. Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica. 52:S1(2010). 

Kowalzik BK, Pavelka MS, Kutz SJ, Behie A. Parasites, primates, and ant-plants: clues to the lifecycle of Controrchis sp. in black howler monkeys,(Alouatta pigra) in southern Belize. Journal of Wildlife Diseases 46:1330-1334(2010).

Sim KA, Hoar BM, Kutz SJ, Chilton NB. Amplification of the second internal transcribed spacer ribosomal DNA of individual trichostrongylid nematode larvae by nested polymerase chain reaction. Journal of Veterinary Diagnostic Investigation 22:433-437(2010).

Brook RK, Kutz SJ, Millins C, Veitch AM, Elkin BT, Leighton T. Evaluation and delivery of domestic animal health services in remote communities in the Northwest Territories: A Case study of status and needs. The Canadian Veterinary Journal. La revue vétérinaire canadienne 51:1115-1122(2010).

Schock DM, Ruthig GR, Collins JP, Kutz SJ, Carrière S, Gau RJ, Veitch AM, Larter NC, Tate DP, Guthrie G, Allaire DG, Popko R. Amphibian chytrid fungus and ranaviruses in the Northwest Territories, Canada. Diseases of Aquatic Organisms 92:231-240(2010).

Kutz SJ, Jenkins EJ, Veitch AM, Ducrocq J, Polley L, Elkin BT, Lair S. The Arctic as a model for anticipating, preventing, and mitigating climate change impacts on host-parasite interactions. Veterinary Parasitology 163:217-228(2009).

Brook RK, Kutz SJ, Veitch AM, Popko RA, Elkin BT, Guthrie G. Fostering community-based wildlife health monitoring and research in the Canadian North. Ecohealth 6:266-278(2009).

Teichroeb JA, Kutz SJ, Parkar U, Thompson RCA, Sicotte P. Ecology of the Gastrointestinal Parasites of Colobus vellerosus at Boabeng-Fiema, Ghana: Possible Anthropozoonotic Transmission. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 140:498-507(2009). DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.21098

Hoar BM, Oakley M, Farnell R, Kutz SJ. Biodiversity and temporal patterns of egg production and development for parasites of the Chisana Caribou herd, Yukon Territory, Canada. Rangifer 29:25-37(2009).

Thompson RCA, Kutz SJ, Smith A. Parasite Zoonoses and Wildlife: Emerging Issues. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 6:678-693(2009). doi:10.3390/ijerph6020678

Kutz SJ, Dobson AP, Hoberg EP. Where are the parasites? Science 326:1187-1188(2009).

Kutz SJ, Thompson RCA, Polley L, Kandola K, Nagy J, Wielinga C, Elkin BT. Giardia Assemblage A: human genotype in muskoxen in the Canadian Arctic. Parasites and Vectors 1:32(2008). Doi:10.1186/1756-3305-1-32

Hoberg EP, Polley L, Jenkins EJ, Kutz SJ. Pathogens of domestic and free-ranging ungulates: global climate change in temperate to boreal latitudes across North America. Revue scientifique et technique (International Office of Epizootics) 27:511-28(2008).

Hoberg EP, Polley L, Jenkins EJ, Kutz SJ. Livestock Pathogens and Global Climate Change in Temperate to Boreal Latitudes Across North America. Invited paper for the World Association of Office International Des Epizooties 27:511-528(2008).

Salb AL, Barkema HW, Elkin BT, Thompson RCA, Whiteside D, Black SR, Dubey JP, Kutz SJ. Dogs as sources and sentinels of parasites in humans and wildlife, northern Canada. Emerging Infectious Diseases 14:60-3(2008).

Hoberg EP, Polley L, Jenkins EJ, Kutz SJ, Veitch AM, Elkin BT. Integrated approaches and empirical models for investigation of parasitic diseases in northern wildlife. Emerging Infectious Diseases 14:10-17(2008).

Kutz SJ, Asmundsson IM, Hoberg EP, Appleyard GD, Jenkins EJ, Beckmen K, et al. Serendipitous discovery of a novel protostrongylid (Nematoda: Metastrongyloidea) associated with caribou (Rangifer tarandus), muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus) and moose (Alces alces) from high latitudes of North America based on DNA sequence comparisons. Canadian Journal of Zoology 85:1143-1156(2007).

Jenkins EJ, Veitch AM, Kutz SJ, Bollinger TK, Chirino-Trejo JM, Elkin BT, West KH, Hoberg EP, Polley L. Protostrongylid parasites and pneumonia in captive and wild thinhorn sheep (Ovis dalli). Journal of Wildlife Diseases 43:189-205(2007).

Jenkins EJ, Kutz SJ, Hoberg EP, Polley L. 2006. Bionomics of larvae of Parelaphostrongylus odocoilei (Nematoda: Protostrongylidae) in experimentally-infected gastropod intermediate hosts. Journal of Parasitology 92:298-305(2006).

Jenkins EJ, Veitch AM, Kutz SJ, Hoberg EP, Polley L. Climate change and the epidemiology of protostrongylid nematodes in northern ecosystems: Parelaphostrongylus odocoilei and Protostrongylus stilesi in Dall's sheep (Ovis d. dalli). Parasitology 7:1-15(2005).

Kutz SJ, Hoberg EP, Polley L, Jenkins EJ. 2005. Global warming is changing the dynamics of arctic host-parasite systems. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B - Biological Sciences 272:2571-6(2005).

Cook JA, Hoberg EP, Koehler A, Henttonen H, Wickström L, Haukisalmi V, Galbreath K, Chernyavski F, Dokuchaev N, Lahzuhtkin A, MacDonald SO, Hope A, Waltari E, Runck A, Veitch AM, Popko R, Jenkins E, Kutz SJ, Eckerlin R. Beringia : Intercontinental exchange and diversification of high latitude mammals and their parasites during the Pliocene and Quaternary. Mammal Study 30:S33-S44(2005).

Bradley MJ, Kutz SJ, Jenkins EJ, O'Hara ETM. The potential impact of climate change on infectious diseases of arctic fauna. International Journal of Circumpolar Health 64:468-477(2005). 

Hoberg EP, Jenkins EJ, Rosenthal B, Wong B, Erbe ES, Kutz SJ, Polley L. Caudal polymorphism and cephalic morphology among first-stage larvae of Parelaphostrongylus odocoilei (Protostrongylidae: Elaphostrongylinae) in Dall's sheep from the Mackenzie Mountains Canada. Journal of Parasitology 91:1318-1325(2005).

Jenkins EJ, Appleyard GD, Hoberg EP, Rosenthal BM, Kutz SJ, Veitch AM, Schwantje HM, Elkin BT, Polley L. Geographic distribution of the muscle-dwelling nematode Parelaphostrongylus odocoilei in North America, using molecular identification of first-stage larvae. Journal of Parasitology 91:574-584(2005).

Kutz SJ, Hoberg EP, Nagy J, Polley L, Elkin B. 'Emerging' parasitic infections in arctic ungulates. Integrative and Comparative Biology 44:109-118(2004).

Kutz SJ, Garde E, Veitch AM, Nagy J, Ghandi F, Polley L. Muskox lungworm (Umingmakstrongylus pallikuukensis) does not establish in experimentally exposed thinhorn sheep (Ovis dalli). Journal of Wildlife Diseases 40:197-204(2004).

Hoberg EP, Kutz SJ, Galbreath K, Cook J. Arctic biodiversity: from discovery to faunal baselines- revealing the history of a dynamic ecosystem. Journal of Parasitology 89:S84-S95(2003).

Kutz SJ, Hoberg EP, Nishi J, Polley L. Development of the muskox lungworm, Umingmakstrongylus pallikuukensis in gastropods in the Arctic. Canadian Journal of Zoology 80:1977-1985(2002).

Hoberg EP, Kutz SJ, Nagy J, Jenkins E, Elkin B, Branigan B, Cooley D. Protostrongylus stilesi (Protostrongylidae), ecological isolation and putative host switching between Dall's sheep and muskoxen in a contact zone. Comparative Parasitology 69:1-9(2002).

Kutz SJ, Veitch AM, Hoberg EP, Elkin BT, Jenkins EJ, Polley L. New host and geographic records for two protostrongylids in Dall's sheep. Journal of Wildlife Diseases 37:761-774(2001).

Kutz SJ, Hoberg EP, Polley L. A new lungworm in muskoxen: an exploration in arctic parasitology. Trends in Parasitology 17:276-280(2001).

Kutz SJ, Hoberg EP, Polley L. Umingmakstrongylus pallikuukensis (Nematoda: Protostrongylidae) in gastropods: larval morphology, morphometrics and development rates. Journal of Parasitology 87:527-535(2001).

Kutz SJ, Elkin BT, Panayi D, Dubey JP. Prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii antibodies in barren-ground caribou (Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus) from the Canadian Arctic. Journal of Parasitology 87:439-442(2001).

Kutz SJ, Elkin B, Gunn A, Dubey JP. Prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii antibodies in muskox (Ovibos moschatus) sera from northern Canada. Journal of Parasitology 86:879-882(2000).

Kutz SJ, Hoberg EP, Polley L. Emergence of third-stage larvae of Umingmakstrongylus pallikuukensis from three gastropod intermediate host species. Journal of Parasitology 86:743-749(2000).

Blakely BR, Kutz SJ, Tedesco SC, Flood PR. 2000. Trace mineral and vitamin concentrations in the liver and serum of wild muskoxen from Victoria Island. Journal of Wildlife Diseases 36:301-307(2000).

Gau, RJ, Kutz SJ, Elkin BT. Parasites in grizzly bears from the central Canadian Arctic. Journal of Wildlife Diseases 35:618-621(1999).

Hoberg EP, Monsen KJ, Kutz SJ, Blouin MS. Structure, biodiversity and historical biogeography of nematode faunas in Holarctic ruminants: Morphological and molecular diagnoses for Teladorsagia boreoarcticus sp. n. (Nematoda: Ostertagiinae), a dimorphic cryptic species in muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus). Journal of Parasitology 85:910-934(1999).

Kutz SJ, Hoberg EP, Polley L. Experimental infections of muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus) and domestic sheep with Umingmakstrongylus pallikuukensis (Nematoda: Protostrongylidae): parasite development, population structure and pathology. Canadian Journal of Zoology 77:1562-1572(1999).

Book Chapters

Hoberg EP, Kutz SJ, Cook JA, Galaktionov K, Haukisalmi V, Henttonen H, Laaksonen S, Makarikiov A, Marcogliese DJ.(2013). "Parasites," in: Arctic Biodiversity Assessment: Status and Trends in Arctic Biodiversity. (Meltofte H. ed.). 

Kutz SJ. (2012). "Polar Diseases and Parasites: A conservation paradigm shift," in: "Protection of the Three Poles. " (F. Huettman, ed.). Springer.

Tryland M, Kutz SJ, Curry P. (2012). "Wildlife health in a changing North: A model for global environmental change," In: New Directions in Conservation Medicine: Applied cases of ecological health. (A. A. Aguirre, R. Ostfeld and P. Daszak, eds), pp. 122-134. Oxford University Press, Inc., Oxford.