Interannual Dynamics of Antibody Levels in Naturally Infected Long-Lived Colonial Birds

Abstract

Little is known about the long-term persistence of specific antibodies (Ab) in natural host-parasite systems despite its potential epidemiological and ecological importance. In long-lived species, knowledge of the dynamics of individual immunological profiles can be important not only for interpreting serology results, but also for assessing transmission dynamics and the potential selective pressures acting on parasites. The aim of this paper was to investigate temporal variation in levels of specific Ab against the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato in adults of a long-lived colonial seabird, the Black-legged Kittiwake Rissa tridactyla. In wild populations, adults are naturally exposed each breeding season to a Borrelia vector, the tick Ixodes uriae. Breeding birds were captured during four consecutive breeding seasons, and parasite infestation quantified. Using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and immunoblots, we found that the immunological profiles of anti-Borrelia Ab were highly repeatable among years, reflecting the interannual persistence of Ab levels. We nevertheless also observed that year-to-year changes of Ab levels were related to exposure to ticks in the previous year. The long-term persistence of Ab levels may be an important mechanism of individual protection against future exposure to the microparasite. It will also affect the availability of susceptible hosts, and thus the transmission dynamics of the bacterium. These results illustrate the need to consider the dynamics of the immune response in order to better understand the evolutionary ecology of host-parasite interactions in natural populations.

First detection of Borrelia burgdorferi-antibodies in free-living birds of prey from Eastern Westphalia, Germany

“…However, due to the diffi cult and protracted cultivation of spirochetes associated to the risk of contamination, this method was not performed in the current study. An alternative approach recommended in the literature is the detection of B. burgdorferi -antibodies (Isogai et al, 1994;Piesman et al, 1996;Staszewski et al, 2007); however, the relatively large blood volume required for this ELISA was not deemed appropriate given the nature of the studied population. The advantage of the IFT approach used in this study is primarily the good feasibility with published diagnostic parameters indicated that under experimental conditions -titres ≥ 1:64 were "positive" (Burgess, 1989).…”

West Nile Virus in American White Pelican Chicks: Transmission, Immunity, and Survival

“…Chase Lake and Bitter Lake are among the five largest colonies in North America. Chase Lake had 17 WNV has been documented as the primary cause of latebreeding-season (mid-July to fledging) chick deaths, and the disease onset in the pelican colonies consistently occurs around the second week of July. 2 We collected chicks immediately after initial observations of unusual numbers of dead and moribund chicks (staggering, unable to stand, or unable to hold up head).…”

“…Mosquitoes may start the WNV epizootic by exposing the colony, but perhaps, chick behaviors contribute to its spread within the colony. Although information is limited, experimental studies of several species have shown passive transfer of maternal antibodies to WNV to chicks through egg yolk [13][14][15][16][17][18] or egg yolk and crop milk. 19 Transferred WNV antibodies may provide some protection to chicks depending on titer and rate of decay of maternally transferred antibodies, timing of chick exposure to the virus, and whether maternally transferred antibodies interfere with the development of the juvenile immune response as shown for Newcastle disease in BlackLegged Kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla).…”

Estimating transitions between states using measurements with imperfect detection: application to serological data

“…The data used for that purpose come from a CR study, where breeding birds had been repeatedly resighted and/ or captured and blood sampled for immunological analyses over a series of years (see Chambert et al [2012] and Staszewski et al [2007] for more details). The assignment of an individual serological state for each year that a bird was physically captured was based on a quantitative measurement of antibody (Ab) level resulting from a specific anti-Borrelia enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) of a plasma sample.…”

“…Measurements of Ab levels were taken from 315 individually marked kittiwakes surveyed from 2003 to 2009. We here considered that high Ab levels corresponded to a seropositive state, while low Ab levels indicated a seronegative state (Staszewski et al 2007), and individuals with intermediate values were attributed to the negative or positive serological state depending on the overlap of the respective bi-modal distributions of negative and positive individuals ( Table 1). The detection of antibodies means that the animal has been exposed (infected) by the bacteria, but does not imply that the individual is still infected and/or sick (Staszewski et al 2007).…”