Abstract
Migratory shorebirds are exposed to a wide range of pathogens along their migratory flyways, but their capacity to acquire or spread pathogens beyond endemic areas is poorly known. We focused on the spillover and acquisition of mosquito-borne pathogens such as haemosporidians and West Nile virus (WNV) on key-staging Iberian wetlands during different seasons. We screened seven shorebird species (447 individuals), and detected low haemosporidian prevalence (0.6 %). Furthermore, no WNV infections could be detected, though 6.2 % revealed antibodies against flaviviruses. Although Iberian wetlands congregate numerous shorebirds of different species and origins, the potential introduction of foreign pathogens is not a common event.
Zusammenfassung
Geringes Ansteckungsrisiko von durch Stechmücken übertragenen Krankheitserregern unter Watvögeln in Feuchtgebieten der iberischen Halbinsel
Obwohl wandernde Watvögel entlang ihrer Zugwege mit den verschiedensten Krankheitserregern in Kontakt treten, ist wenig darüber bekannt, in welchem Maße solche Krankheitserreger durch Watvögel aufgenommen und über die Grenzen endemischer Gebiete hinaus verbreitet werden. Während verschiedener Jahreszeiten haben wir die Aufnahme und Übertragung von durch Stechmücken übertragenen Krankheitserregern wie etwa Haemosporidia und das West-Nil-Virus (WNV) bei Watvögeln in Hauptrastgebieten der iberischen Halbinsel untersucht. Unter den sieben überprüften Watvogelarten (447 Individuen) fanden wir eine geringe Prävalenz von Haemosporidia (0.6 %). Des Weiteren konnten keine Infektionen des WNV festgestellt werden, jedoch trugen 6.2 % der untersuchten Vögel Antikörper gegen Flaviviren. Obgleich sich große Ansammlungen von Watvögeln verschiedenster Arten und Herkunftsgebiete in den Feuchtgebieten der iberischen Halbinsel aufhalten, ist das mögliche Einschleppen von fremden Krankheitserregern nicht verbreitet.
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Acknowledgments
We are grateful to the Farlington Ringing Group, Pedro Geraldes, Filipe Martinho, João Guilherme, and many other volunteers for their essential field assistance during bird capture sessions. The Portuguese Instituto para a Conservação da Natureza e das Florestas provided official permits for bird capturing and sampling. Sandra Antunes, Joana Morais, and Rita Ventim helped during laboratory analysis. This is a contribution from the Moncloa Campus of International Excellence of the Complutense and the Polytechnic Universities of Madrid (through J.P.T.). This project and S.P. were financed by the European Fund for Economic and Regional Development (FEDER) through the Program Operational Factors of Competitiveness (COMPETE) and National Funds through the Portuguese Foundation of Science and Technology (PTDC/BIA-BDE/64063/2006, FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-007053). J.A.A. was supported by (Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation) and J.P.T. was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (Grant CGL2010-15734/BOS). The experiments comply with the current laws of the country in which they were performed.
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Communicated by K. C. Klasing.
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Supplementary material 1 (DOCX 22 kb) Supplementary material - Fieldwork: detailed description of capture periods and sampling methods; Haemosporidians screening: detailed laboratory extraction and parasite screening protocols. ELISA assays and detailed respective results.
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Pardal, S., Alves, J.A., Zé-Zé, L. et al. Shorebird low spillover risk of mosquito-borne pathogens on Iberian wetlands. J Ornithol 155, 549–554 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-013-1036-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-013-1036-2