Relationship of Cliff Swallows, Ectoparasites, and an Alphavirus in West-Central Oklahoma

Hopla, Cluff E.; Francy, D. B.; Calisher, Charles H.; Lazuick, John S.

doi:10.1093/jmedent/30.1.267

Cited by 42 publications

(65 citation statements)

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“…Because the number of swallow bugs at a site is correlated with cli¡ swallow colony size, the population sizes of either organism might reach critical thresholds for sustaining BCR virus infection. Both the bug and the bird are closely associated with BCR virus and its sibling strain FM virus (Hayes et al 1977;Rush et al 1980;Scott et al 1984;Hopla et al 1993). For example, the results presented here show that relatively high percentages of swallow bugs are infected and preliminary data on the presence of BCR virus antibody in cli¡ swallows show at least 9% of adults with detectable antibody titres (n 245 birds) (C. R. Brown, M. B.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 68%

“…These viruses tend to be vectored by invertebrates (usually mosquitoes) and ampli¢ed and spread over large geographical areas by birds. BCR virus was ¢rst isolated in the early 1980s from swallow bugs collected at a cli¡ swallow colony along Buggy Creek in Grady County, west central Oklahoma (Loye & Hopla 1983;Hopla et al 1993). BCR virus is very similar to another alphavirus, Fort Morgan virus (FM), which is also associated with cli¡ swallows and swallow bugs (Hayes et al 1977;Calisher et al 1980;Scott et al 1984).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The birds do not use all of the colony sites in a given year (Brown & Brown 1996) and the bugs seem to be adapted to withstanding long periods of host absence, in some cases persisting at a site not used by cli¡ swallows for up to four consecutive years (Smith & Eads 1978;Loye 1985;Loye & Carroll 1991;Rannala 1995). The bugs appear capable of parasitizing introduced house sparrows (Passer domesticus) that occupy nests in some cli¡ swallow colonies (Hopla et al 1993). (iii) Cli¡ swallows Cli¡ swallows are highly colonial passerines that breed throughout most of western North America (Brown & Brown 1995). They build gourd (bottle)-shaped mud nests and attach them to the vertical faces of cli¡ walls, rock outcrops or arti¢cial sites, such as the eaves of buildings or bridges.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Arbovirus infection increases with group size

Brown

Komar

Quick

et al. 2001

Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B

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Buggy Creek (BCR) virus is an arthropod-borne alphavirus that is naturally transmitted to its vertebrate host the cli¡ swallow (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota) by an invertebrate vector, namely the cimicid swallow bug (Oeciacus vicarius). We examined how the prevalence of the virus varied with the group size of both its vector and host. The study was conducted in southwestern Nebraska where cli¡ swallows breed in colonies ranging from one to 3700 nests and the bug populations at a site vary directly with the cli¡ swallow colony size. The percentage of cli¡ swallow nests containing bugs infected with BCR virus increased signi¢cantly with colony size at a site in the current year and at the site in the previous year. This result could not be explained by di¡erences in the bug sampling methods, date of sampling, sample size of the bugs, age structure of the bugs or the presence of an alternate host, the house sparrow (Passer domesticus). Colony sites that were reused by cli¡ swallows showed a positive autocorrelation in the percentage of nests with infected bugs between year t and year t + 1, but the spatial autocorrelation broke down for year t + 2. The increased prevalence of BCR virus at larger cli¡ swallow colonies probably re£ects the larger bug populations there, which are less likely to decline in size and lead to virus extinction. To the authors' knowledge this is the ¢rst demonstration of arbovirus infection increasing with group size and one of the few known predictive ecological relationships between an arbovirus and its vectors/hosts. The results have implications for both understanding the ¢tness consequences of coloniality for cli¡ swallows and understanding the temporal and spatial variation in arboviral epidemics.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 68%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Arbovirus infection increases with group size

Brown

Komar

Quick

et al. 2001

Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B

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show abstract

“…Although BCRV shares structural similarities with other alphaviruses in the WEEV complex, it is primarily transmitted by the cimicid swallow bug (Hemiptera: Cimicidae, Oeciacus vicarius), rather than by mosquitoes, and is not considered a pathogen of humans or domesticated animals (Griffin, 2001). Buggy Creek virus (BCRV) is known to be amplified by only two vertebrate hosts, the Cliff Swallow (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota) and the introduced House Sparrow that usurps the mud nests that Cliff Swallows build (Hayes et al, 1977;Hopla et al, 1993). Adult and nestling House Sparrows are exposed to and fed upon by the hematophagous swallow bugs (O'Brien, pers.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pathology and Virus Detection in Tissues of Nestling House Sparrows Naturally Infected With Buggy Creek Virus (Togaviridae)

O’Brien

Meteyer

et al. 2010

Journal of Wildlife Diseases

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ABSTRACT:Alphaviruses (Togaviridae) infect wild birds, but clinical illness and death attributable to virus in naturally infected birds is rarely reported, particularly for small passerine species or nestlings. Buggy Creek virus is a unique alphavirus in the Western equine encephalomyelitis virus (WEEV) complex that is vectored by the cimicid swallow bug (Oeciacus vicarius), an ectoparasite of the colonially nesting Cliff Swallow (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota) and the introduced House Sparrow (Passer domesticus). While sampling birds for Buggy Creek virus (BCRV) during the summers of 2007 and 2008, we discovered large numbers of clinically ill or dead House Sparrow nestlings. Ill nestlings exhibited ataxia, torticollis, paresis, and lethargy. Histologic examination revealed that encephalitis was the most common finding, followed by myositis, myocarditis, and hepatic changes, but pathology was highly variable. We isolated BCRV from brain tissue in most of the ill or dead nestlings, and from blood, liver, kidney, spleen, lung, feather pulp, and skin in some birds. To our knowledge, this is the first report of clinical illness, gross pathology, and histopathology for a WEEV-complex alphavirus in a field-collected passerine species.

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“…Buggy Creek virus is a single-stranded, positive-sense RNA alphavirus (Hopla et al, 1993). Fort Morgan virus (Calisher et al, 1980), also found in swallow bugs, is a strain of BCRV (Pfeffer et al, 2006;Padhi et al, 2008); thus, FMV and BCRV are synonymous.…”

Section: Study Organismsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seasonal Variation and Age-Related Correlates of Buggy Creek Virus (Togaviridae) Infection in Nestling House Sparrows

O’Brien

Brown

2012

Journal of Wildlife Diseases

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ABSTRACT:Wild birds are rarely found with active arbovirus infections, and relatively little is known about the patterns of viremia they exhibit under field conditions or how infection varies with date, bird age, or other factors that potentially affect transmission dynamics. Buggy Creek virus (BCRV; Togaviridae, Alphavirus) is an arbovirus associated with colonially nesting Cliff Swallows (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota) and transmitted by its vector, the hematophagous swallow bug (Oeciacus vicarius), an ectoparasite of the Cliff Swallow. Introduced House Sparrows (Passer domesticus) that have occupied swallow nests at colony sites in peridomestic settings are also exposed to BCRV when fed upon by swallow bugs. We used data from 882 nestling House Sparrows in western Nebraska from 2006 to 2008 to examine seasonal variation and age-related correlates of virus infection in the field. Over 17% of nestling House Sparrows had active infections. Prevalence was higher in 2007 than in 2008 when birds from all colony sites were analyzed, but there was no significant difference between years for sites sampled in both seasons. Buggy Creek virus prevalence was similar in early and late summer, with a peak in midsummer, coinciding with the greatest swallow bug abundance. Nestlings 10 days of age and younger were most commonly infected, and the likelihood of BCRV infection declined for older nestlings. Average viremia titers also declined with age (but did not vary with date) and were high enough at all nestling ages to likely infect blood-feeding arthropods (swallow bugs). Length of viremia for nestlings in the field was $4 days, in agreement with an earlier study of BCRV. Nestling birds offer many advantages for field studies of arbovirus amplification and transmission.

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Relationship of Cliff Swallows, Ectoparasites, and an Alphavirus in West-Central Oklahoma

Cited by 42 publications

References 0 publications

Arbovirus infection increases with group size

Arbovirus infection increases with group size

Pathology and Virus Detection in Tissues of Nestling House Sparrows Naturally Infected With Buggy Creek Virus (Togaviridae)

Seasonal Variation and Age-Related Correlates of Buggy Creek Virus (Togaviridae) Infection in Nestling House Sparrows

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