| 1. |
- Culina, Antica, et al.
(författare)
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Connecting the data landscape of long-term ecological studies : The SPI-Birds data hub
- 2021
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Ingår i: Journal of Animal Ecology. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0021-8790 .- 1365-2656. ; 90:9, s. 2147-2160
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The integration and synthesis of the data in different areas of science is drastically slowed and hindered by a lack of standards and networking programmes. Long-term studies of individually marked animals are not an exception. These studies are especially important as instrumental for understanding evolutionary and ecological processes in the wild. Furthermore, their number and global distribution provides a unique opportunity to assess the generality of patterns and to address broad-scale global issues (e.g. climate change). To solve data integration issues and enable a new scale of ecological and evolutionary research based on long-term studies of birds, we have created the SPI-Birds Network and Database ()-a large-scale initiative that connects data from, and researchers working on, studies of wild populations of individually recognizable (usually ringed) birds. Within year and a half since the establishment, SPI-Birds has recruited over 120 members, and currently hosts data on almost 1.5 million individual birds collected in 80 populations over 2,000 cumulative years, and counting. SPI-Birds acts as a data hub and a catalogue of studied populations. It prevents data loss, secures easy data finding, use and integration and thus facilitates collaboration and synthesis. We provide community-derived data and meta-data standards and improve data integrity guided by the principles of Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable (FAIR), and aligned with the existing metadata languages (e.g. ecological meta-data language). The encouraging community involvement stems from SPI-Bird's decentralized approach: research groups retain full control over data use and their way of data management, while SPI-Birds creates tailored pipelines to convert each unique data format into a standard format. We outline the lessons learned, so that other communities (e.g. those working on other taxa) can adapt our successful model. Creating community-specific hubs (such as ours, COMADRE for animal demography, etc.) will aid much-needed large-scale ecological data integration.
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| 2. |
- Ferraguti, Martina, et al.
(författare)
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Ecological determinants of avian malaria infections : An integrative analysis at landscape, mosquito and vertebrate community levels
- 2018
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Ingår i: Journal of Animal Ecology. - : Wiley. - 0021-8790. ; 87:3, s. 727-740
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Vector and host communities, as well as habitat characteristics, may have important but different impacts on the prevalence, richness and evenness of vector-borne parasites. We investigated the relative importance of (1) the mosquito community composition, (2) the vertebrate community composition and (3) landscape characteristics on the prevalence, richness and evenness of avian Plasmodium. We hypothesized that parasite prevalence will be more affected by vector-related parameters, while host parameters should be also important to explain Plasmodium richness and evenness. We sampled 2,588 wild house sparrows (Passer domesticus) and 340,829 mosquitoes, and we performed vertebrate censuses at 45 localities in the Southwest of Spain. These localities included urban, rural and natural landscapes that were characterized by several habitat variables. Twelve Plasmodium lineages were identified in house sparrows corresponding to three major clades. Variation partitioning showed that landscape characteristics explained the highest fraction of variation in all response variables (21.0%-44.8%). Plasmodium prevalence was in addition explained by vector-related variables (5.4%) and its interaction with landscape (10.2%). Parasite richness and evenness were mostly explained by vertebrate community-related variables. The structuring role of landscape characteristics in vector and host communities was a key factor in determining parasite prevalence, richness and evenness, although the role of each factor differed according to the parasite parameters studied. These results show that the biotic and abiotic contexts are important to explain the transmission dynamics of mosquito-borne pathogens in the wild.
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| 3. |
- Ferraguti, Martina, et al.
(författare)
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Environmental, geographical and time-related impacts on avian malaria infections in native and introduced populations of house sparrows (Passer domesticus), a globally invasive species
- 2023
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Ingår i: Global Ecology and Biogeography. - : Wiley. - 1466-822X .- 1466-8238. ; 32:5, s. 809-823
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Aim: The increasing spread of vector-borne diseases has resulted in severe health concerns for humans, domestic animals and wildlife, with changes in land use and the introduction of invasive species being among the main possible causes for this increase. We explored several ecological drivers potentially affecting the local prevalence and richness of avian malaria parasite lineages in native and introduced house sparrows (Passer domesticus) populations. Location: Global. Time period: 2002–2019. Major taxa studied: Avian Plasmodium parasites in house sparrows. Methods: We analysed data from 2,220 samples from 69 localities across all continents, except Antarctica. The influence of environment (urbanization index and human density), geography (altitude, latitude, hemisphere) and time (bird breeding season and years since introduction) were analysed using generalized additive mixed models (GAMMs) and random forests. Results: Overall, 670 sparrows (30.2%) were infected with 22 Plasmodium lineages. In native populations, parasite prevalence was positively related to urbanization index, with the highest prevalence values in areas with intermediate urbanization levels. Likewise, in introduced populations, prevalence was positively associated with urbanization index; however, higher infection occurred in areas with either extreme high or low levels of urbanization. In introduced populations, the number of parasite lineages increased with altitude and with the years elapsed since the establishment of sparrows in a new locality. Here, after a decline in the number of parasite lineages in the first 30 years, an increase from 40 years onwards was detected. Main conclusions: Urbanization was related to parasite prevalence in both native and introduced bird populations. In invaded areas, altitude and time since bird introduction were related to the number of Plasmodium lineages found to be infecting sparrows.
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| 4. |
- Ferraguti, Martina, et al.
(författare)
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From Africa to Europe : evidence of transmission of a tropical Plasmodium lineage in Spanish populations of house sparrows
- 2019
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Ingår i: Parasites & Vectors. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1756-3305. ; 12:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Avian malaria parasites are a highly diverse group that commonly infect birds and have deleterious effects on their hosts. Some parasite lineages are geographically widespread and infect many host species in many regions. Bird migration, natural dispersal, invasive species and human-mediated introductions into areas where competent insect vectors are present, are probably the main drivers of the current distribution of avian malaria parasites. METHODS: A total of 412 and 2588 wild house sparrows (Passer domesticus) were captured in 2012 and 2013 in two areas of the Iberian Peninsula (central and southern Spain, respectively). Genomic DNA was extracted from blood samples; parasite lineages were sequenced and identified by comparing with GenBank and/or MalAvi databases. RESULTS: Thirteen Plasmodium lineages were identified in house sparrows corresponding to three major clades. Five individuals were infected by the African Plasmodium lineage PAGRI02, which has been proposed to actively circulate only in Africa. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the low prevalence of PAGRI02 in sparrows in Spain, our results suggest that the area of transmission of this parasite is more widespread than previously thought and covers both Africa and Europe. Further studies of the global distribution of Plasmodium lineages infecting wild birds are required to identify the current transmission areas of these parasites. This is vital given the current scenario of global change that is providing new opportunities for avian malaria transmission into areas where parasites were previously absent.
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| 5. |
- Hoffman, Tove, et al.
(författare)
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Alkhurma Hemorrhagic Fever Virus RNA in Hyalomma rufipes Ticks Infesting Migratory Birds, Europe and Asia Minor
- 2018
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Ingår i: Emerging Infectious Diseases. - Atlanta, United States : U.S. Department of Health and Human Services * Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. - 1080-6040 .- 1080-6059. ; 24:5, s. 879-882
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Alkhurma hemorrhagic fever virus RNA was detected in immature Hyalomma rufipes ticks infesting northward migratory birds caught in the North Mediterranean Basin. This finding suggests a role for birds in the ecology of the Alkhurma hemorrhagic fever virus and a potential mechanism for dissemination to novel regions. Increased surveillance is warranted.
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| 6. |
- Hoffman, Tove, et al.
(författare)
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Association between guilds of birds in the African-Western Palaearctic region and the tick species Hyalomma rufipes, one of the main vectors of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus
- 2021
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Ingår i: One Health. - : Elsevier. - 2352-7714. ; 13
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- IntroductionThe ecology of the vertebrate host contributes to the geographical range expansion of ticks. In this study, we investigated which tick taxa that infest and are dispersed by birds along African-Western Palaearctic flyways during northward migration, and whether bird ecology was associated with tick taxa.Materials and methodsTicks were collected from birds trapped at bird observatories in Spain, Italy, Greece, and Israel during the spring migration of 2014 and 2015, using mist nets. The tick-infested bird species were classified into guilds, using different combinations of the variables: migration distance, wintering region, foraging behaviour, and winter habitat. Ticks were molecularly determined to genus and species level by sequencing fragments of the 12S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) gene and by phylogenetic inference, using the Maximum Likelihood algorithm. Data were analysed using descriptive measures, graphs, Chi2 tests, the Tukey-Kramer test, and a parametric linear model (generalized linear model) in order to analyse and adjust for characteristics in the bird guilds and their relationship to collected tick taxa.ResultsMost (84.2%) of the 10,209 trapped birds were long-distance migrants, of which 2.4% were infested by ticks. The most common tick species was Hyalomma rufipes (77.7%; 447/575), a known vector and reservoir of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus. Bird guilds containing only long-distance migrants with wintering areas in Africa were associated with the tick species H. rufipes (p < 0.0001). Furthermore, bird winter habitat was associated with H. rufipes (p = 0.003); with bird species overwintering in open habitat (p = 0.014) and wetlands (p = 0.046) having significantly more H. rufipes as compared to birds with a winter habitat comprising forest and shrubs (p = 0.82).ConclusionsWith climate change, the likelihood of establishment of permanent Hyalomma populations in central and northern Europe is increasing. Thus, surveillance programs for monitoring the risk of introduction and establishment of H. rufipes in the Western-Palaearctic should be established. Our study suggests that migratory bird species wintering in African open habitats and wetlands are good candidates for monitoring potential introduction.
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| 7. |
- Hoffman, Tove, et al.
(författare)
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Association between guilds of birds in the African-Western Palaearctic region and the tick species Hyalomma rufipes, one of the main vectors of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus.
- 2022
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Ingår i: Microorganisms. - : MDPI AG. - 2076-2607. ; 10
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The migratory behavior of wild birds contributes to the geographical spread of ticks and their microorganisms. In this study, we aimed to investigate the dispersal and co-occurrence of Francisella and spotted fever group Rickettsia (SFGR) in ticks infesting birds migrating northward in the African-Western Palaearctic region (AWPR). Birds were trapped with mist nests across the Mediterranean basin during the 2014 and 2015 spring migration. In total, 575 ticks were collected from 244 birds. We screened the ticks for the species Francisella tularensis, the genus Francisella, and SFGR by microfluidic real-time PCR. Confirmatory analyses and metagenomic sequencing were performed on tick samples that putatively tested positive for F. tularensis during initial screenings. Hyalomma rufipes was the most common tick species and had a high prevalence of Francisella, including co-occurrence of Francisella and SFGR. Metagenomic analysis of total DNA extracted from two H. rufipes confirmed the presence of Francisella, Rickettsia, and Midichloria. Average nucleotide identity and phylogenetic inference indicated the highest identity of the metagenome-assembled genomes to a Francisella-like endosymbiont (FLE), Rickettsia aeschlimannii, and Midichloria mitochondrii. The results of this study suggest that (i) FLE- and SFGR-containing ticks are dispersed by northbound migratory birds in the AWPR, (ii) H. rufipes likely is not involved in transmission of F. tularensis in the AWPR, and (iii) a dual endosymbiosis of FLEs and Midichloria may support some of the nutritional requirements of H. rufipes.
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| 8. |
- Hoffman, Tove, et al.
(författare)
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Co-occurrence of Francisella and spotted fever group Rickettsia in avian-associated Hyalomma rufipes
- 2022
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Ingår i: Microorganisms. - : MDPI. - 2076-2607. ; 10:7
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Introduction: The migratory behaviour of wild birds aids in the geographical spread of ticks and their microorganisms. Ticks are known to harbor both pathogenic and symbiotic bacteria - such as species of the genera Francisella, Rickettsia,and Midichloria - and multiple bacterial species may occur within them. Francisella occurs in different tick taxa andconsists of closely related pathogenic and non-pathogenic species. Spotted fever group Rickettsia are transmitted to humans by different tick genera and are emerging human pathogens in Europe. The aims of this study were to investigate dispersal of Francisella as well as co-occurrence of Francisella and spotted fever group Rickettsia in ticks infesting northward migrating birds in the African-Western Palaearctic region.Materials and methods: Birds were trapped using mist nets at bird observatories in Spain, Italy, Greece, and Israel during their spring migration of 2014 and 2015. Ticks were screened for the genus Francisella, the species Francisella tularensis, and spotted fever group Rickettsia by microfluidic qPCR. Ticks with putative positive results for F. tularensiswere subjected to confirmation analyses, metagenomics analysis, enrichment, and whole genome sequencing.Results: There was a high prevalence of Francisella species (76.7%) and co-occurrence of Francisella species and spotted fever group Rickettsia (50.6%) in the tick species Hyalomma rufipes. Two H. rufipes yielded putative positive test results for the human pathogen F. tularensis during initial screening. Metagenomics analysis revealed presence of Francisella sp., Rickettsia sp., and Midichloria sp. DNA in the two H. rufipes ticks. The levels of Rickettsia and Midichloria DNA were relatively high while the level of Francisella DNA was low and required enrichment for the construction of metagenome-assembled genomes. Phylogenetic inference and calculations of the average nucleotide identity (ANI) indicated that: i) the Francisella genomes belonged to the Francisella-like endosymbiont (FLE) group in Clade 1 of Francisella and had highest sequence identity to an FLE found in Ornithodoros moubata (ANI: 96.7/97.0%), ii) the Rickettsia genomes had highest resemblance to Rickettsia aeschlimannii (ANI: 98.8 - 99.9%), and iii) the Midichloria genomes resembled Midichloria mitochondrii (ANI: 91.5 - 92.3%).Conclusions: The results of this study suggest ticks containing Francisella species, FLEs, and spotted fever groupRickettsia are dispersed by northbound migratory birds in the African-Western Palaearctic and suggest H. rufipes may not be involved in the transmission of F. tularensis in the study region. Future studies should aim at confirming the prevalence of Francisella spp. and spotted fever group Rickettsia in H. rufipes, in addition to focusing on the influence of FLEs on H. rufipes and their interaction with pathogenic and symbiotic bacteria of the genera Rickettsia and Midichloria.
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| 9. |
- Hoffman, Tove, et al.
(författare)
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Co-Occurrence of Francisella, Spotted Fever Group Rickettsia, and Midichloria in Avian-Associated Hyalomma rufipes
- 2022
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Ingår i: Microorganisms. - : MDPI. - 2076-2607. ; 10:7
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The migratory behavior of wild birds contributes to the geographical spread of ticks and their microorganisms. In this study, we aimed to investigate the dispersal and co-occurrence of Francisella and spotted fever group Rickettsia (SFGR) in ticks infesting birds migrating northward in the African-Western Palaearctic region (AWPR). Birds were trapped with mist nests across the Mediterranean basin during the 2014 and 2015 spring migration. In total, 575 ticks were collected from 244 birds. We screened the ticks for the species Francisella tularensis, the genus Francisella, and SFGR by microfluidic real-time PCR. Confirmatory analyses and metagenomic sequencing were performed on tick samples that putatively tested positive for F. tularensis during initial screenings. Hyalomma rufipes was the most common tick species and had a high prevalence of Francisella, including co-occurrence of Francisella and SFGR. Metagenomic analysis of total DNA extracted from two H. rufipes confirmed the presence of Francisella, Rickettsia, and Midichloria. Average nucleotide identity and phylogenetic inference indicated the highest identity of the metagenome-assembled genomes to a Francisella-like endosymbiont (FLE), Rickettsia aeschlimannii, and Midichloria mitochondrii. The results of this study suggest that (i) FLE- and SFGR-containing ticks are dispersed by northbound migratory birds in the AWPR, (ii) H. rufipes likely is not involved in transmission of F. tularensis in the AWPR, and (iii) a dual endosymbiosis of FLEs and Midichloria may support some of the nutritional requirements of H. rufipes.
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| 10. |
- Jiménez-Peñuela, Jéssica, et al.
(författare)
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Differences in fatty acids composition between Plasmodium infected and uninfected house sparrows along an urbanization gradient
- 2022
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Ingår i: Science of the Total Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0048-9697. ; 815
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Anthropogenic activities such as intensification of agriculture, animal husbandry and expansion of cities can negatively impact wildlife through its influence on the availability of high-quality food resources and pathogen transmission. The house sparrow (Passer domesticus), an urban exploiter, is undergoing a population decline. Nutritional constrains and infectious diseases has been highlighted as potential causes. Fatty acids (FAs) play an important role in modulating certain immune responses needed to combat parasite infections. FAs are highly influenced by dietary availability and have been shown to vary between urban and rural birds. Habitat anthropization also affects avian malaria epidemiology but little attention has been given to the relationship between blood parasite infection, host FAs composition and anthropization. Here, we analysed 165 juvenile birds either infected by Plasmodium or uninfected, captured at 15 localities grouped in triplets containing urban, rural and natural habitats. The total level of FAs was higher in birds from urban than from rural habitats, suggesting a greater availability of fat-rich foods sources. Furthermore, Plasmodium infected birds had higher relative levels of ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) but lower of ω-6 PUFAs than uninfected birds. In concordance, the ω-6/ω-3 ratio was also lower in infected than in uninfected birds, but only from natural habitats, likely driven by the slightly higher ω-3 PUFAs in infected birds from natural habitats. Birds from anthropized environments may metabolize the ω-3 PUFAs to promote anti-inflammatory responses against stressors, which would result in lower ω-3 affecting their response against Plasmodium. Alternatively, lower ω-6 PUFAs may influence birds susceptibility to infection due to a weaker pro-inflammatory response. These descriptive results do not allow us to identify the causality of these associations but highlight the need to further investigate the relevance of FAs for birds to fight infectious diseases in habitats with different degree of urbanization.
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| 11. |
- Küpper, Clemens, et al.
(författare)
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Kentish versus Snowy Plover: Phenotypic and Genetic Analyses of Charadrius alexandrinus Reveal Divergence of Eurasian and American Subspecies
- 2009
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Ingår i: Auk. - 0004-8038. ; 126:4, s. 839-852
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Abstract.—Many shorebird species have widespread geographic distributions comprising several continents. Because shorebirds are excellent flyers and can migrate large distances, it is often unclear whether reproductive barriers between subspecies and populations from different continents exist. Kentish–Snowy Plovers (Charadrius alexandrinus) are cosmopolitan shorebirds. Whether the American and Eurasian subspecies—Snowy Plover and Kentish Plover, respectively—constitute a single species is the subject of a longstanding debate. We examined the divergence between American and Eurasian populations to reassess the current taxonomy by comparing genetic and phenotypic characters of the American subspecies C. a. nivosus and the Eurasian subspecies C. a. alexandrinus from seven populations. Genetic analyses revealed that American and Eurasian populations have strongly diverged, the Kentish Plover being more closely related to the White-fronted Plover (C. marginatus) than to the Snowy Plover. These results were consistent across all assessed nuclear markers (26 microsatellites and a partial CHD sequence) and two mitochondrial markers (ND3 and ATPase 6/8). Within subspecies, populations sampled across large geographic distances were not genetically differentiated (all Fst ≤ 0.01 and all Φst ≤ 0.06), which suggests panmixia. Snowy Plovers differed morphologically from Kentish Plovers, having significantly shorter tarsi and wings. Chick plumage and calls also may serve as diagnostic characters to distinguish Snowy and Kentish plovers, although more data are needed to quantify these differences. Our combined results suggest that the taxonomic status of C. alexandrinus needs to be revised, and we propose that Kentish Plover and Snowy Plover be recognized as separate species: C. alexandrinus and C. nivosus, respectively.
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| 12. |
- Ruiz-Martinez, Jorge, et al.
(författare)
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Prevalence and Genetic Diversity of Avipoxvirus in House Sparrows in Spain
- 2016
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Ingår i: PLOS ONE. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 11:12
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Avipoxvirus (APV) is a fairly common virus affecting birds that causes morbidity and mortality in wild and captive birds. We studied the prevalence of pox-like lesions and genetic diversity of APV in house sparrows (Passer domesticus) in natural, agricultural and urban areas in southern Spain in 2013 and 2014 and in central Spain for 8 months (2012-2013). Overall, 3.2% of 2,341 house sparrows visually examined in southern Spain had cutaneous lesions consistent with avian pox. A similar prevalence (3%) was found in 338 birds from central Spain. Prevalence was higher in hatch-year birds than in adults. We did not detect any clear spatial or temporal patterns of APV distribution. Molecular analyses of poxvirus-like lesions revealed that 63% of the samples were positive. Molecular and phylogenetic analyses of 29 DNA sequences from the fpv167 gene, detected two strains belonging to the canarypox clade (subclades B1 and B2) previously found in Spain. One of them appears predominant in Iberia and North Africa and shares 70% similarity to fowlpox and canarypox virus. This APV strain has been identified in a limited number of species in the Iberian Peninsula, Morocco and Hungary. The second one has a global distribution and has been found in numerous wild bird species around the world. To our knowledge, this represents the largest study of avian poxvirus disease in the broadly distributed house sparrow and strongly supports the findings that Avipox prevalence in this species in South and central Spain is moderate and the genetic diversity low.
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