Abstract
Throughout the world, populations of scavenger birds are declining rapidly with some populations already on the brink of extinction. Much of the current research into the factors contributing to these declines has focused on exposure to drug residues, lead, and other toxins. Despite increased monitoring of these declining populations, little is known about infectious diseases affecting scavenger bird species. To assess potential infectious disease risks to both obligate and facultative scavenger bird species, we performed a serosurvey for eleven potential pathogens in three species of scavenging birds in California: the California condor (Gymnogyps californianus), turkey vulture (Cathartes aura) and golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos). California condors were seropositive for avian adenovirus, infectious bronchitis virus, Mycoplasma gallisepticum, avian paramyxovirus-2, West Nile virus (WNV) and Toxoplasma gondii. Golden eagles were seropositive for avian adenovirus, Chlamydophila psittaci and Toxoplasma gondii, and turkey vultures were seropositive for avian adenovirus, Chlamydophila psittaci, avian paramyxovirus-1, Toxoplasma gondii and WNV. Risk factor analyses indicated that rearing site and original release location were significantly associated with a positive serologic titer to WNV among free-flying condors. This study provides preliminary baseline data on infectious disease exposure in these populations for aiding in early disease detection and provides potentially critical information for conservation of the endangered California condor as it continues to expand its range and encounter new infectious disease threats.
Highlights
Worldwide, scavenging bird populations are rapidly declining [1,2,3]
We investigated exposure to avian pathogens in three species of birds that commonly scavenge on carrion: the California condor, which is restricted to areas in northern Mexico and the western United States [22]; the turkey vulture (Cathartes aura), which is widespread throughout the Americas [23]; and the golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos), which is found mainly in western North America [24]
Free-flying condors had a seroprevalence of 32% (29/92) for avian adenovirus, 9% (7/81) for infectious bronchitis virus (IBV)-Ark, 45% (38/85) for IBV-Conn, 32% (26/82) for IBV-Mass, 1% (1/92) for M. gallisepticum, 26% (22/86) for avian paramyxovirus-2 (AVPM-2), and 3% (3/92) for T. gondii
Summary
The objectives of our study were two-fold: first, to obtain baseline data on the seroprevalence of common avian pathogens that could pose a threat to California condors, turkey vultures and golden eagles; and second, to understand patterns in WNV serostatus among California condors, including associations with several potential predictors such as age, location, number of previous WNV vaccines and time since last WNV vaccination
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