Role of the Cliff Swallow Bug (Oeciacus Vicarius) in the Natural Cycle of a Western Equine Encephalitis-Related Alphavirus

Hayes, Richard O.; Francy, D. B.; Lazuick, John S.; Smith, Gordon Cs; Gibbs, E. Paul J.

doi:10.1093/jmedent/14.3.257

Cited by 48 publications

(67 citation statements)

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“…Sparrows are nonmigratory and use the cli¡ swallows' nests for roosting even during the non-breeding season and, thus, they may play a direct role in virus ampli¢cation during the times of the year when cli¡ swallows are absent. BCR virus and related alphaviruses have been isolated from house sparrows (Hayes et al 1977;Monath et al 1980;Rush et al 1980;Scott et al 1984;Hopla et al 1993). However, our results indicate that the presence of house sparrows is unrelated to cli¡ swallow colony size and, therefore, that house sparrows are unlikely to be responsible for the observed increase in virus infection with colony size, at least during the swallows' breeding season.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 53%

“…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). BCR virus and FM virus are 4 96% identical at the nucleotide level and 4 98% identical at the amino acid level over the entire structural protein coding region (M. Pfe¡er and R. Kinney, unpublished data) and, thus, both are probably strains of the same alphavirus.…”

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: 53%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Arbovirus infection increases with group size

Brown

Komar

Quick

et al. 2001

Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B

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“…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%

“…), which live in and behind Cliff Swallow nests (Brown and Brown, 1996). Investigators have isolated BCRV/FMV from the brains of House Sparrow nestlings found sick or dead below nests (Hayes et al, 1977;Scott et al, 1984), but none have characterized the pathology and tissue tropism associated with BCRV infection in nestlings. In a study of FMV at three colony sites in Colorado, USA, Scott et al (1984) reported that dead or clinically ill, 10-day-old House Sparrow nestlings were more likely than older sparrows to have virus in the brain (based on virus isolation from needle-aspirated brain samples), but they attributed the main cause of House Sparrow nestling mortality to nests falling from the substrate.…”

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 (BCRV; Togaviridae; Alphavirus) and the similar Fort Morgan virus (FMV) commonly infect nestling House Sparrows and can cause serious pathology in nestlings (Hayes et al, 1977;Scott et al, 1984;O'Brien et al, 2010a). The principal vector for BCRV is the swallow bug (Hemiptera: Cimicidae: Oeciacus vicarius) that transmits the virus to House Sparrows when blood feeding.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

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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Role of the Cliff Swallow Bug (Oeciacus Vicarius) in the Natural Cycle of a Western Equine Encephalitis-Related Alphavirus

Cited by 48 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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