TY - JOUR
T1 - Dynamics of a novel pathogen in an avian host
T2 - Mycoplasmal conjunctivitis in house finches
AU - Dhondt, André A.
AU - Altizer, Sonia
AU - Cooch, Evan G.
AU - Davis, Andrew K.
AU - Dobson, Andrew P.
AU - Driscoll, Melanie J.L.
AU - Hartup, Barry K.
AU - Hawley, Dana M.
AU - Hochachka, Wesley M.
AU - Hosseini, Parviez R.
AU - Jennelle, Christopher S.
AU - Kollias, George V.
AU - Ley, David H.
AU - Swarthout, Elliott C.H.
AU - Sydenstricker, Keila V.
N1 - Funding Information:
The study was supported by NSF-DEB grant #0094456 under the NSF-NIH Ecology of Infectious Diseases program. We thank the thousands of volunteer participants in the HFDS who submitted monthly observations of healthy and symptomatic birds, and many undergraduates and volunteers who participated in various aspects of the research.
PY - 2005/4
Y1 - 2005/4
N2 - In early 1994, a novel strain of Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) - a poultry pathogen with a world-wide distribution - emerged in wild house finches and within 3 years had reached epidemic proportions across their eastern North American range. The ensuing epizootic resulted in a rapid decline of the host population coupled with considerable seasonal fluctuations in prevalence. To understand the dynamics of this disease system, a multi-disciplinary team composed of biologists, veterinarians, microbiologists and mathematical modelers set forth to determine factors driving and influenced by this host-pathogen system. On a broad geographic scale, volunteer observers ("citizen scientists") collected and reported data used for calculating both host abundance and disease prevalence. The scale at which this monitoring initiative was conducted is unprecedented and it has been an invaluable source of data for researchers at the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology to track the spread and magnitude of disease both spatially and temporally. At a finer scale, localized and intensive field studies provided data used to quantify the effects of disease on host demographic parameters via capture-mark-recapture modeling, effects of host behavior on disease and vice-versa, and the biological and genetic profiles of birds with known phenotypic characteristics. To balance the field-based component of the study, experiments were conducted with finches held in captivity to describe and quantify the effects of experimental infections on hosts in both individual and social settings. The confluence of these various elements of the investigation provided the foundation for construction of a general compartmentalized epidemiological model of the dynamics of the house finch-MG system. This paper serves several purposes including (i) a basic review of the pathogen, host, and epidemic cycle; (ii) an explanation of our research strategy; (iii) a basic review of results from the diverse multi-disciplinary approaches employed; and (iv) pertinent questions relevant to this and other wildlife disease studies that require further investigation.
AB - In early 1994, a novel strain of Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) - a poultry pathogen with a world-wide distribution - emerged in wild house finches and within 3 years had reached epidemic proportions across their eastern North American range. The ensuing epizootic resulted in a rapid decline of the host population coupled with considerable seasonal fluctuations in prevalence. To understand the dynamics of this disease system, a multi-disciplinary team composed of biologists, veterinarians, microbiologists and mathematical modelers set forth to determine factors driving and influenced by this host-pathogen system. On a broad geographic scale, volunteer observers ("citizen scientists") collected and reported data used for calculating both host abundance and disease prevalence. The scale at which this monitoring initiative was conducted is unprecedented and it has been an invaluable source of data for researchers at the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology to track the spread and magnitude of disease both spatially and temporally. At a finer scale, localized and intensive field studies provided data used to quantify the effects of disease on host demographic parameters via capture-mark-recapture modeling, effects of host behavior on disease and vice-versa, and the biological and genetic profiles of birds with known phenotypic characteristics. To balance the field-based component of the study, experiments were conducted with finches held in captivity to describe and quantify the effects of experimental infections on hosts in both individual and social settings. The confluence of these various elements of the investigation provided the foundation for construction of a general compartmentalized epidemiological model of the dynamics of the house finch-MG system. This paper serves several purposes including (i) a basic review of the pathogen, host, and epidemic cycle; (ii) an explanation of our research strategy; (iii) a basic review of results from the diverse multi-disciplinary approaches employed; and (iv) pertinent questions relevant to this and other wildlife disease studies that require further investigation.
KW - Capture-mark-recapture
KW - Carpodacus mexicanus
KW - Disease ecology
KW - Multi-disciplinary research
KW - Mycoplasma gallisepticum
KW - Review
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=20144387296&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=20144387296&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.actatropica.2005.01.009
DO - 10.1016/j.actatropica.2005.01.009
M3 - Article
C2 - 15777638
AN - SCOPUS:20144387296
SN - 0001-706X
VL - 94
SP - 77
EP - 93
JO - Acta Tropica
JF - Acta Tropica
IS - 1
ER -