West Nile Virus activity in central Iowa bird populations and the utility of wildlife rehabilitation centers in monitoring wildlife disease

Abstract

Little is known about the frequency, occurrence, or impacts of West Nile virus (WNV) on many Iowa wildlife species, including birds. The lack of knowledge about WNV in Iowa bird populations is partially due to difficulties associated with monitoring wildlife health. We evaluated the utility of wildlife rehabilitation centers for providing information about wildlife population health and disease monitoring, as well as assessing where on the central Iowa landscape birds have the highest risk of exposure to WNV. Specifically, we: 1) examined the records of two ecologically important groups of birds (raptors [orders Accipritiformes, Falconiformes, and Strigiformes] and corvids [family Corvidae]) submitted over a ten year period to the Wildlife Care Clinic (WCC), a rehabilitation facility in central Iowa, and analyzed whether there was significant variation in submission rates and diagnoses among years, seasons, and species, 2) sampled peridomestic birds submitted to the WCC as well as free-living peridomestic birds within the geographic area from which most of the WCC"s submissions originated, and compared WNV prevalence between these groups, and 3) collected blood samples from free-living birds captured at central Iowa sites comprising gradients of urban, agriculture, and natural land uses, and tested them for exposure to WNV. Our results indicated that submission rates and diagnoses to the WCC varied among years, season, and species. In most cases, records were not of sufficient detail to draw specific Daszak, P, A.A. Cunningham, and A.D. Hyatt. 2000. Emerging infectious diseases of wildlifethreats to biodiversity and human health. Science 287:443-449.

Discovery and Partial Genomic Characterisation of a Novel Nidovirus Associated with Respiratory Disease in Wild Shingleback Lizards (Tiliqua rugosa)

“…The detection of this novel nidovirus in association with a long-reported respiratory syndrome demonstrates the importance of wildlife centres, as well as zoos and private clinics, in providing passive disease surveillance data and samples for early detection of emerging wildlife diseases and monitoring of existing diseases [57][58][59]. Ongoing collaborative arrangements between researchers and wildlife rehabilitation centres are critical to detect and describe these novel infectious disease agents.…”