Giuseppe
Emeritus
Emerging Infectious Disease Leads to Rapid Population Declines of Common British Birds (PLOS ONE, abstract, edited)
[Source: PLOS ONE, <cite cite="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0012215">PLoS ONE: Emerging Infectious Disease Leads to Rapid Population Declines of Common British Birds</cite>. Abstract, edited.]
Emerging Infectious Disease Leads to Rapid Population Declines of Common British Birds
Robert A. Robinson 1#, Becki Lawson 2#*, Mike P. Toms 1, Kirsi M. Peck 3, James K. Kirkwood 4, Julian Chantrey 5, Innes R. Clatworthy 6, Andy D. Evans 3, Laura A. Hughes 5, Oliver C. Hutchinson 2, Shinto K. John 2, Tom W. Pennycott 7, Matthew W. Perkins 2, Peter S. Rowley 6, Vic R. Simpson 8, Kevin M. Tyler 9, Andrew A. Cunningham 2
1 British Trust for Ornithology, Thetford, Norfolk, United Kingdom,
2 Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, London, United Kingdom,
3 The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Sandy, United Kingdom,
4 Universities Federation for Animal Welfare, Wheathampstead, United Kingdom,
5 Department of Veterinary Pathology, University of Liverpool, South Wirral, United Kingdom,
6 Electron Microscopy Unit, UCL Medical School, London, United Kingdom,
7 Disease Surveillance Centre, Scottish Agricultural College, Ayr, United Kingdom,
8 Wildlife Veterinary Investigation Centre, Truro, United Kingdom,
9 Biomedical Research Centre, School of Medicine, Health Policy and Practice, University of East Anglia, Norwich, United Kingdom
Abstract
Emerging infectious diseases are increasingly cited as threats to wildlife, livestock and humans alike. They can threaten geographically isolated or critically endangered wildlife populations; however, relatively few studies have clearly demonstrated the extent to which emerging diseases can impact populations of common wildlife species. Here, we report the impact of an emerging protozoal disease on British populations of greenfinch Carduelis chloris and chaffinch Fringilla coelebs, two of the most common birds in Britain. Morphological and molecular analyses showed this to be due to Trichomonas gallinae. Trichomonosis emerged as a novel fatal disease of finches in Britain in 2005 and rapidly became epidemic within greenfinch, and to a lesser extent chaffinch, populations in 2006. By 2007, breeding populations of greenfinches and chaffinches in the geographic region of highest disease incidence had decreased by 35% and 21% respectively, representing mortality in excess of half a million birds. In contrast, declines were less pronounced or absent in these species in regions where the disease was found in intermediate or low incidence. Also, populations of dunnock Prunella modularis, which similarly feeds in gardens, but in which T. gallinae was rarely recorded, did not decline. This is the first trichomonosis epidemic reported in the scientific literature to negatively impact populations of free-ranging non-columbiform species, and such levels of mortality and decline due to an emerging infectious disease are unprecedented in British wild bird populations. This disease emergence event demonstrates the potential for a protozoan parasite to jump avian host taxonomic groups with dramatic effect over a short time period.
Citation: Robinson RA, Lawson B, Toms MP, Peck KM, Kirkwood JK, et al. (2010) Emerging Infectious Disease Leads to Rapid Population Declines of Common British Birds. PLoS ONE 5(8): e12215. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0012215
Editor: Sean Rands, University of Bristol, United Kingdom
Received: June 15, 2009; Accepted: July 12, 2010; Published: August 18, 2010
Copyright: ? 2010 Robinson et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Funding: The Bird Breeding Survey (BBS) is organised by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) and jointly funded by BTO, the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) on behalf of the Council for Nature Conservation and the Countryside, the Countryside Council for Wales, Natural England and Scottish Natural Heritage, and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB). This study received financial support from the following organisations: Birdcare Standards Association (http://www.birdcare.org.uk), the British Veterinary Association Animal Welfare Foundation (http://www.bva-awf.org.uk), CJ Wildbird Foods (http://www.birdfood.co.uk/), Cranswick Pet Products (http://www.cranswickpetproducts.co.uk/), Gardman Ltd. (http://www.gardman.co.uk/), the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) Trust Small Grants Programme Reference 000443 (http://www.rcvs.org.uk/RCVSTrust), the RSPB (http://www.rspb.org.uk/), the John and Pamela Salter Trust (R16982) and the Universities Federation for Animal Welfare (http://www.ufaw.org.uk). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
* E-mail: becki.lawson@ioz.ac.uk
# These authors contributed equally to this work.
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[Source: PLOS ONE, <cite cite="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0012215">PLoS ONE: Emerging Infectious Disease Leads to Rapid Population Declines of Common British Birds</cite>. Abstract, edited.]
Emerging Infectious Disease Leads to Rapid Population Declines of Common British Birds
Robert A. Robinson 1#, Becki Lawson 2#*, Mike P. Toms 1, Kirsi M. Peck 3, James K. Kirkwood 4, Julian Chantrey 5, Innes R. Clatworthy 6, Andy D. Evans 3, Laura A. Hughes 5, Oliver C. Hutchinson 2, Shinto K. John 2, Tom W. Pennycott 7, Matthew W. Perkins 2, Peter S. Rowley 6, Vic R. Simpson 8, Kevin M. Tyler 9, Andrew A. Cunningham 2
1 British Trust for Ornithology, Thetford, Norfolk, United Kingdom,
2 Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, London, United Kingdom,
3 The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Sandy, United Kingdom,
4 Universities Federation for Animal Welfare, Wheathampstead, United Kingdom,
5 Department of Veterinary Pathology, University of Liverpool, South Wirral, United Kingdom,
6 Electron Microscopy Unit, UCL Medical School, London, United Kingdom,
7 Disease Surveillance Centre, Scottish Agricultural College, Ayr, United Kingdom,
8 Wildlife Veterinary Investigation Centre, Truro, United Kingdom,
9 Biomedical Research Centre, School of Medicine, Health Policy and Practice, University of East Anglia, Norwich, United Kingdom
Abstract
Emerging infectious diseases are increasingly cited as threats to wildlife, livestock and humans alike. They can threaten geographically isolated or critically endangered wildlife populations; however, relatively few studies have clearly demonstrated the extent to which emerging diseases can impact populations of common wildlife species. Here, we report the impact of an emerging protozoal disease on British populations of greenfinch Carduelis chloris and chaffinch Fringilla coelebs, two of the most common birds in Britain. Morphological and molecular analyses showed this to be due to Trichomonas gallinae. Trichomonosis emerged as a novel fatal disease of finches in Britain in 2005 and rapidly became epidemic within greenfinch, and to a lesser extent chaffinch, populations in 2006. By 2007, breeding populations of greenfinches and chaffinches in the geographic region of highest disease incidence had decreased by 35% and 21% respectively, representing mortality in excess of half a million birds. In contrast, declines were less pronounced or absent in these species in regions where the disease was found in intermediate or low incidence. Also, populations of dunnock Prunella modularis, which similarly feeds in gardens, but in which T. gallinae was rarely recorded, did not decline. This is the first trichomonosis epidemic reported in the scientific literature to negatively impact populations of free-ranging non-columbiform species, and such levels of mortality and decline due to an emerging infectious disease are unprecedented in British wild bird populations. This disease emergence event demonstrates the potential for a protozoan parasite to jump avian host taxonomic groups with dramatic effect over a short time period.
Citation: Robinson RA, Lawson B, Toms MP, Peck KM, Kirkwood JK, et al. (2010) Emerging Infectious Disease Leads to Rapid Population Declines of Common British Birds. PLoS ONE 5(8): e12215. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0012215
Editor: Sean Rands, University of Bristol, United Kingdom
Received: June 15, 2009; Accepted: July 12, 2010; Published: August 18, 2010
Copyright: ? 2010 Robinson et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Funding: The Bird Breeding Survey (BBS) is organised by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) and jointly funded by BTO, the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) on behalf of the Council for Nature Conservation and the Countryside, the Countryside Council for Wales, Natural England and Scottish Natural Heritage, and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB). This study received financial support from the following organisations: Birdcare Standards Association (http://www.birdcare.org.uk), the British Veterinary Association Animal Welfare Foundation (http://www.bva-awf.org.uk), CJ Wildbird Foods (http://www.birdfood.co.uk/), Cranswick Pet Products (http://www.cranswickpetproducts.co.uk/), Gardman Ltd. (http://www.gardman.co.uk/), the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) Trust Small Grants Programme Reference 000443 (http://www.rcvs.org.uk/RCVSTrust), the RSPB (http://www.rspb.org.uk/), the John and Pamela Salter Trust (R16982) and the Universities Federation for Animal Welfare (http://www.ufaw.org.uk). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
* E-mail: becki.lawson@ioz.ac.uk
# These authors contributed equally to this work.
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