Abstract
Trichomonosis caused by the flagellate Trichomonas gallinae is one of the most important avian diseases worldwide. The parasite is localised in the oesophageal area of its host and mainly infects pigeon and dove species. During the last decade, a host expansion to passerine birds occurred, making the disease a potential threat for passerine predators as naïve host species. Here, we investigated the effect of the parasite on two Accipiter species in Germany which show a comparable lifestyle but differ in prey choice, the Northern goshawk (Accipiter gentilis) mainly hunting pigeons and the Eurasian sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus) mainly feeding on passerines. We genetically identified the parasite strains using the Fe-Hydrogenase gene as marker locus and compared the incidence of parasite presence and clinical signs of trichomonosis between nestlings of the two Accipiter species. In total, we identified 14 strains, with nine strains unknown so far. There was a higher strain diversity and prevalence of Trichomonas spp. in goshawks than sparrowhawks (42.4% vs. 21.2%) whereas sparrowhawks when being infected more often displayed clinical signs of trichomonosis than goshawks (37.1% vs. 6.1%). Even though sparrowhawks were mainly infected with the finch epidemic strain and genetic data indicated some variation between isolates, no correlation with virulence could be detected. All in all, goshawks seem to be better adapted to Trichomonas infections, whereas to sparrowhawks, this is a novel disease with more severe manifestations, from individual morbidity to a higher risk of population decline caused by trichomonosis.
Highlights
Avian trichomonosis caused by the flagellate Trichomonas spp., mainly by Trichomonas gallinae (Rivolta 1878), is considered a major disease of numerous avian species, especially Columbiformes and Accipitriformes, and has been reported from several continents (Stabler 1954)
While our results indicate that the Northern goshawk had a higher prevalence and a higher parasite strain diversity than Eurasian sparrowhawks, Eurasian sparrowhawks showed a higher chance of developing clinical signs of trichomonosis, independent of the identity of the infecting strain
With our standardised methodology and appropriate population-level replication, we can draw a bigger picture of the influence one of the most important bird diseases can have on different Accipiter species
Summary
Avian trichomonosis caused by the flagellate Trichomonas spp., mainly by Trichomonas gallinae (Rivolta 1878), is considered a major disease of numerous avian species, especially Columbiformes and Accipitriformes, and has been reported from several continents (Stabler 1954). The rock pigeon (Columba livia, Gmelin 1789) is the primary host of T. gallinae and considered responsible for the worldwide distribution of this protozoan Avian trichomonosis has been recognised as an emerging infectious disease of wild finches in the UK (Robinson et al 2010) which further spreads as a consequence of bird migration (Lawson et al 2011b). Such disease emergence usually occurs via the introduction of a novel pathogen into a naïve
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