RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Exploring the infection dynamics of a bacterial pathogen on a remote oceanic island reveals annual epizootics impacting an albatross population
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 711283
DO 10.1101/711283
A1 Jaeger, Audrey
A1 Gamble, Amandine
A1 Lagadec, Erwan
A1 Lebarbenchon, Camille
A1 Bourret, Vincent
A1 Tornos, Jérémy
A1 Barbraud, Christophe
A1 Lemberger, Karin
A1 Delord, Karine
A1 Weimerskirch, Henri
A1 Thiebot, Jean-Baptiste
A1 Boulinier, Thierry
A1 Tortosa, Pablo
YR 2019
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2019/07/23/711283.abstract
AB Oceanic islands with reduced species richness provide an opportunity to investigate the emergence, maintenance and transmission of infectious diseases threatening wildlife. On Amsterdam Island, in the southern Indian Ocean, massive and recurrent mortality of the nestlings of Indian yellow-nosed albatross (Thalassarche carteri) has been attributed to avian cholera caused by Pasteurella multocida, a bacterial pathogen of likely human introduction. To understand the annual dynamics of pathogen prevalence, we measured the shedding of bacterial DNA by the albatrosses during four successive breeding seasons. The screening of 583 bird swabs by Real-Time PCR revealed an intense circulation of P. multocida during each study year, with a steady increase of infection prevalence across the breeding season. In the three years of highest pathogen prevalence, the epizootics were associated with massive die-offs of nestlings, inducing low annual fledging success (< 20%). These findings and developed PCR protocol have crucial applications for refining wildlife conservation plans aiming at controlling this disease.