Food safety in scavenger conservation: Diet-associated exposure to livestock pharmaceuticals and opportunist mycoses in threatened Cinereous and Egyptian vultures

Blanco, Guillermo; Junza, Alexandra; Barrón, D.

doi:10.1016/j.ecoenv.2016.10.009

Cited by 46 publications

(52 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…The growing dependence of scavengers on swine carcasses from factory farming has been increasingly recorded in several Spanish regions (Camiña & Montelío, ; Donázar et al., ). This has been shown to be associated with scavenger contamination with veterinary pharmaceuticals used in livestock farming (Blanco et al., ; Blanco et al., a,b) and with infection by parasites and opportunistic and emerging livestock pathogens (Blanco, ; Blanco et al., ; Marin et al., ; Pitarch et al., ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Antimicrobial multiresistant strains of zoonotic Salmonella can spread from medicated livestock to wildlife, thus creating new reservoirs also acting as amplifiers and long‐distance dispersers (Allen et al., ). Avian scavengers can be directly affected by the ingestion of antibiotics used to treat livestock (Blanco et al., , ,), and this can also contribute to the creation of new resistances and the amplification of those acquired from livestock. All Salmonella strains isolated from both vultures species showed resistance to two or more of the antimicrobial agents tested.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These stations were originally conceived with the intention of contributing to the conservation of vultures (Cortés‐Avizanda et al., ). Currently, many avian scavengers are increasingly dependent on carcasses of this and other housed livestock due to population reductions of wild animals and free‐ranging livestock that constituted their diet in the past (Blanco et al., ; Donázar, ; Donázar et al., ). An increase in the availability of livestock carcasses from factory farms (especially of swine and poultry) has further favoured the use of concentrated, predictable and abundant food in SFSs, thus promoting the scavengers' habituation to these easily exploited resources (Cortés‐Avizanda et al., ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, few studies have specifically highlighted the fact that the elimination of residues from human activities is generally at the root of the problem of pathogen dispersion attributed to birds (Friend, McLean, & Dein, ). Importantly, birds can be infected with pathogens proliferating in refuse and carcass dumps, and with emerging livestock pathogens associated with intensive or unsanitary farming operations from which the remains discarded there originate (Blanco, Junza, & Barrón, ; Friend & Franson, ; Pitarch, Gil, & Blanco, ; Tsiodras et al., ). These types of food sources can also play an indirect role in wildlife health through physiological changes and contamination making them more susceptible to the acquisition, transmission and effects of pathogens (Arnsberg, Skorping, Grenfell, & Read, ; Becker, Streicker, & Altizer, ; Blanco et al., ; Lebarbenchon, Poulin, Gauthier‐Clerc, & Thomas, ; Pitarch et al., ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Bacteria from free‐living birds can acquire resistance to antibiotics due to multiple contaminations with human and livestock residues, and disperse this resistance around the world (Allen et al., ). Specifically, by consuming carcasses of treated livestock, scavengers can be directly exposed to antibiotics and other drugs used to combat disease (Blanco, Junza, & Barrón, ; Blanco, Junza, Segarra, Barbosa, & Barrón, ; Blanco et al., ), and then acquire or develop pathogen resistance to these drugs (Blanco, ). Therefore, the combined evaluation of diet, occurrence of pathogens and their drug resistance can provide information about the scavengers' exposure to food acting as infection sources.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Supplementary feeding as a source of multiresistantSalmonellain endangered Egyptian vultures

Blanco

2018

Transbound Emerg Dis

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Wild birds have repeatedly been highlighted as vectors in the dissemination of livestock and human pathogens. Here, the occurrence, serotypes and antimicrobial resistance of Salmonella were assessed in adult Egyptian vultures (Neophron percnopterus), to test the hypothesis that infection is associated with the consumption of swine carcasses provided at supplementary feeding stations (SFSs). Faeces of year-round resident griffon vultures (Gyps fulvus) were also tested to assess whether infection was acquired in the breeding grounds of both species or in the African wintering quarters of Egyptian vultures. Depending on the shedding rate criteria considered, the occurrence of infection in Egyptian vultures varied between the three consecutive sampling days in a range with a minimum of 23%-41% and a maximum of 64%-92% of individuals (n = 11-14 individuals, 27-39 faeces). The occurrence in the single sampling of griffon vultures was 61% of faeces (n = 18). Vultures mostly fed on pig carcasses, which together with their predominant infection with multiresistant serotypes (mostly the monophasic 4,12:i:- variant resistant to aminopenicillins, aminoglycosides and tetracyclines) typically found in pigs from Spain, strongly supports a carcass-to-vulture transmission and cross-infection routes at SFSs. Efforts are encouraged to avoid discarding carcasses of pigs with Salmonella at SFSs established for the conservation of threatened scavengers. This could contribute to reducing the long-distance transmission of resistant pathogens with an impact on livestock and human health while avoiding infection risk and its effects on wildlife.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Supplementary feeding as a source of multiresistantSalmonellain endangered Egyptian vultures

Blanco

2018

Transbound Emerg Dis

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Long‐term demographic dynamics of a keystone scavenger disrupted by human‐induced shifts in food availability

Almaraz

Martínez

Morales‐Reyes

et al. 2022

Ecological Applications

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Scavenging is a key ecological process controlling energy flow in ecosystems and providing valuable ecosystem services worldwide. As long-lived species, the demographic dynamics of vultures can be disrupted by spatiotemporal fluctuations in food availability, with dramatic impacts on their population viability and the ecosystem services provided. In Europe, the outbreak of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in 2001 prompted a restrictive sanitary regulation banning the presence of livestock carcasses in the wild on a continental scale. In long-lived vertebrate species, the buffering hypothesis predicts that the demographic traits with the largest contribution to population growth rate should be less temporally variable. The BSE outbreak provides a unique opportunity to test for the impact of demographic buffering in a keystone scavenger suffering abrupt but transient food shortages. We studied the 42-year dynamics (1979-2020) of one of the world's largest breeding colonies of Eurasian griffon vultures (Gyps fulvus). We fitted an inverse Bayesian state-space model with density-dependent demographic rates to the time series of stage-structured abundances to investigate shifts in vital rates and population dynamics before, during, and after the implementation of a restrictive sanitary regulation. Prior to the BSE outbreak the dynamics was mainly driven by adult survival: 83% of temporal variance in abundance was explained by variability in this rate. Moreover, during this period the regulation of population size operated through density-dependent fecundity and subadult survival. However, after the onset of the European ban, a 1-month delay in average laying date, a drop in fecundity, and a reduction in the number of fledglings induced a transient increase in the impact of fledgling and subadult recruitment on dynamics.Although adult survival rate remained constantly high, as predicted by the buffering hypothesis, its relative impact on the temporal variance in abundance dropped to 71% during the sanitary regulation and to 54% after the ban was lifted. A significant increase in the relative impact of environmental stochasticity on dynamics was modeled after the BSE outbreak. These results provide empirical evidence on how abrupt environmental deterioration may induce dramatic demographic and dynamic changes in the populations of keystone scavengers, with far-reaching impacts on ecosystem functioning worldwide.

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Old World Vultures Reflect Effects of Environmental Pollutants Through Human Encroachment

Krüger

Botha

Coverdale

et al. 2022

Enviro Toxic and Chemistry

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African wildlife face challenges from many stressors including current and emerging contaminants, habitat and resource loss, poaching, intentional and unintentional poisoning, and climate‐related environmental change. The plight of African vultures exemplifies these challenges due to environmental contaminants and other stressors acting on individuals and populations that are already threatened or endangered. Many of these threats emanate from increasing human population size and settlement density, habitat loss from changing land use for agriculture, residential areas, and industry, and climate‐related changes in resource availability. Environmental chemicals that are hazardous include legacy chemicals, emerging chemicals of concern, and high‐volume‐use chemicals that are employed as weed killers and in other agricultural applications. Furthermore, there are differences in risk for species living in close proximity to humans or in areas affected by habitat loss, climate, and industry. Monitoring programs are essential to track the status of nesting pairs, offspring survival, longevity, and lifetime productivity. This is important for long‐lived birds, such as vultures, that may be especially vulnerable to chronic exposure to chemicals as obligate scavengers. Furthermore, their position in the food web may increase risk due to biomagnification of chemicals. We review the primary chemical hazards to Old World vultures and the interacting stressors affecting these and other birds. Habitat is a major consideration for vultures, with tree‐nesters and cliff‐nesters potentially experiencing different risks of exposure to environmental chemicals. The present review provides information from long‐term monitoring programs and discusses a range of these threats and their effects on vulture populations. Environ Toxicol Chem 2022;41:1586–1603. © 2022 SETAC

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Food safety in scavenger conservation: Diet-associated exposure to livestock pharmaceuticals and opportunist mycoses in threatened Cinereous and Egyptian vultures

Cited by 46 publications

References 62 publications

Supplementary feeding as a source of multiresistantSalmonellain endangered Egyptian vultures

Supplementary feeding as a source of multiresistantSalmonellain endangered Egyptian vultures

Long‐term demographic dynamics of a keystone scavenger disrupted by human‐induced shifts in food availability

Old World Vultures Reflect Effects of Environmental Pollutants Through Human Encroachment

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