Influenza A viruses remain infectious for more than seven months in northern wetlands of North America.
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Ramey AM
PROVIDER: S-EPMC7542776 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Similar Datasets
Project description:Influenza A viruses (IAVs) deposited by wild birds into the environment may lead to sporadic mortality events and economically costly outbreaks among domestic birds. There is a paucity of information, however, regarding the persistence of infectious IAVs within the environment following deposition. In this investigation, we assessed the persistence of 12 IAVs that were present in cloacal and/or oropharyngeal swabs of naturally infected ducks. Infectivity of these IAVs was monitored over approximately one year with each virus tested in five water types: (1) distilled water held in the lab at 4 °C and (2-5) filtered surface water from each of four Alaska sites and maintained in the field at ambient temperature. By evaluating infectivity of IAVs in ovo following sample retrieval at four successive time points, we observed declines in IAV infectivity through time. Many viruses persisted for extended periods, as evidenced by ≥25% of IAVs remaining infectious in replicate samples for each treatment type through three sampling time points (144-155 days post-sample collection) and two viruses remaining viable in a single replicate sample each when tested upon collection at a fourth time point (361-377 days post-sample collection). The estimated probability of persistence of infectious IAVs in all five water types was estimated to be between 0.25 and 0.75 during days 50-200 post-sample collection as inferred through Kaplan-Meier survival analysis. Our results provide evidence that IAVs may remain infectious for extended periods, up to or even exceeding one year, when maintained in surface waters under ambient temperatures. Therefore, wetlands may represent an important medium in which infectious IAVs may reside outside of a biotic reservoir.
| S-EPMC9277558 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Five species of migratory thrushes (Turdidae) occupy a transcontinental distribution across northern North America. They have largely overlapping breeding ranges, relatively similar ecological niches, and mutualistic relationships with northern woodland communities as insectivores and seed-dispersing frugivores. As an assemblage of ecologically similar species, and given other vertebrate studies, we predicted a shared pattern of genetic divergence among these species between their eastern and western populations, and also that the timing of the coalescent events might be similar and coincident with historical glacial events. To determine how these five lineages effectively established transcontinental distributions, we used mitochondrial cytochrome b sequences to assess genetic structure and lineage coalescence from populations on each side of the continent. Two general patterns occur. Hermit and Swainson's thrushes (Catharus guttatus and C. ustulatus) have relatively deep divergences between eastern and western phylogroups, probably reflecting shared historic vicariance. The Veery (C. fuscescens), Gray-cheeked Thrush (C. minimus), and American Robin (Turdus migratorius) have relatively shallow divergences between eastern and western populations. However, coalescent and approximate Bayesian computational analyses indicated that among all species as many as five transcontinental divergence events occurred. Divergence within both Hermit and Swainson's thrushes resembled the divergence between Gray-cheeked Thrushes and Veeries and probably occurred during a similar time period. Despite these species' ecological similarities, the assemblage exhibits heterogeneity at the species level in how they came to occupy transcontinental northern North America but two general continental patterns at an among-species organizational level, likely related to lineage age.
| S-EPMC3828608 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Background:The introduction of northern snakehead (Channa argus; Anabantiformes: Channidae) and their subsequent expansion is one of many problematic biological invasions in the United States. This harmful aquatic invasive species has become established in various parts of the eastern United States, including the Potomac River basin, and has recently become established in the Mississippi River basin in Arkansas. Effective management of C. argus and prevention of its further spread depends upon knowledge of current population structure in the United States. Methods:Novel methods for invasive species using whole genomic scans provide unprecedented levels of data, which are able to investigate fine scale differences between and within populations of organisms. In this study, we utilize 2b-RAD genomic sequencing to recover 1,007 single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) loci from genomic DNA extracted from 165 C. argus individuals: 147 individuals sampled along the East Coast of the United States and 18 individuals sampled throughout Arkansas. Results:Analysis of those SNP loci help to resolve existing population structure and recover five genetically distinct populations of C. argus in the United States. Additionally, information from the SNP loci enable us to begin to calculate the long-term effective population size ranges of this harmful aquatic invasive species. We estimate long-term Ne to be 1,840,000-18,400,000 for the Upper Hudson River basin, 4,537,500-45,375,000 for the Lower Hudson River basin, 3,422,500-34,225,000 for the Potomac River basin, 2,715,000-7,150,000 for Philadelphia, and 2,580,000-25,800,000 for Arkansas populations. Discussion and Conclusions:This work provides evidence for the presence of more genetic populations than previously estimated and estimates population size, showing the invasive potential of C. argus in the United States. The valuable information gained from this study will allow effective management of the existing populations to avoid expansion and possibly enable future eradication efforts.
| S-EPMC5889702 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Wild-bird surveillance in North America for avian influenza (AI) viruses with a goal of early identification of the Asian H5N1 highly pathogenic AI virus has identified at least six low-pathogenicity H5N1 AI viruses between 2004 and 2006. The hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA) genes from all 6 H5N1 viruses and an additional 38 North American wild-bird-origin H5 subtype and 28 N1 subtype viruses were sequenced and compared with sequences available in GenBank by phylogenetic analysis. Both HA and NA were phylogenetically distinct from those for viruses from outside of North America and from those for viruses recovered from mammals. Four of the H5N1 AI viruses were characterized as low pathogenicity by standard in vivo pathotyping tests. One of the H5N1 viruses, A/MuteSwan/MI/451072-2/06, was shown to replicate to low titers in chickens, turkeys, and ducks. However, transmission of A/MuteSwan/MI/451072-2/06 was more efficient among ducks than among chickens or turkeys based on virus shed. The 50% chicken infectious dose for A/MuteSwan/MI/451072-2/06 and three other wild-waterfowl-origin H5 viruses were also determined and were between 10(5.3) and 10(7.5) 50% egg infective doses. Finally, seven H5 viruses representing different phylogenetic clades were evaluated for their antigenic relatedness by hemagglutination inhibition assay, showing that the antigenic relatedness was largely associated with geographic origin. Overall, the data support the conclusion that North American H5 wild-bird-origin AI viruses are low-pathogenicity wild-bird-adapted viruses and are antigenically and genetically distinct from the highly pathogenic Asian H5N1 virus lineage.
| S-EPMC2168782 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Allen's rule predicts that homeotherms inhabiting cooler climates will have smaller appendages, while those inhabiting warmer climates will have larger appendages relative to body size. Birds' bills tend to be larger at lower latitudes, but few studies have tested whether modern climate change and urbanization affect bill size. Our study explored whether bill size in a wide-ranging bird would be larger in warmer, drier regions and increase with rising temperatures. Furthermore, we predicted that bill size would be larger in densely populated areas, due to urban heat island effects and the higher concentration of supplementary foods. Using measurements from 605 museum specimens, we explored the effects of climate and housing density on northern cardinal bill size over an 85-year period across the Linnaean subspecies' range. We quantified the geographic relationships between bill surface area, housing density, and minimum temperature using linear mixed effect models and geographically weighted regression. We then tested whether bill surface area changed due to housing density and temperature in three subregions (Chicago, IL., Washington, D.C., and Ithaca, NY). Across North America, cardinals occupying drier regions had larger bills, a pattern strongest in males. This relationship was mediated by temperature such that birds in warm, dry areas had larger bills than those in cool, dry areas. Over time, female cardinals' bill size increased with warming temperatures in Washington, D.C., and Ithaca. Bill size was smaller in developed areas of Chicago, but larger in Washington, D.C., while there was no pattern in Ithaca, NY. We found that climate and urbanization were strongly associated with bill size for a wide-ranging bird. These biogeographic relationships were characterized by sex-specific differences, varying relationships with housing density, and geographic variability. It is likely that anthropogenic pressures will continue to influence species, potentially promoting microevolutionary changes over space and time.
| S-EPMC5980444 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Pelomedusoides constitutes the most diverse group of Mesozoic and Cenozoic side-necked turtles. However, when it originated is still being poorly known and controversial. Fossil remains from the Early Cretaceous (Valanginian) Rosa Blanca Formation of Colombia were described almost a decade ago as potentially belonging to Podocnemidoidea (a large subclade inside Pelomedusoides) and representing one of the earliest records of this group of turtles. Here, I revise this hypothesis based on a new fragmentary specimen from the Rosa Blanca Formation, represented by a right portion of the shell bridge, including the mesoplastron and most of peripherals 5 to 7. The equidimensional shape of the mesoplatron allows me to support its attribution as belonging to Pelomedusoides, a group to which the previously podocnemidoid material is also attributed here. Although the Valanginian pelomesudoid material from Colombia is still too fragmentary as to be considered the earliest indisputable record of the Pelomedusoides clade, their occurrence is at least in agreement with current molecular phylogenetic hypotheses that suggest they split from Chelidae during the Jurassic and should occur in the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous fossil record.
| S-EPMC7450993 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Besides humans, H3 subtypes of influenza A viruses (IAVs) can infect various animal hosts, including avian, swine, equine, canine, and sea mammal species. These H3 viruses are both antigenically and genetically diverse. Here, we characterized the antigenic diversity of contemporary H3 avian IAVs recovered from migratory birds in North America. Hemagglutination inhibition (HI) assays were performed on 37 H3 isolates of avian IAVs recovered from 2007 to 2011 using generated reference chicken sera. These isolates were recovered from samples taken in the Atlantic, Mississippi, Central, and Pacific waterfowl migration flyways. Antisera to all the tested H3 isolates cross-reacted with each other and, to a lesser extent, with those to H3 canine and H3 equine IAVs. Antigenic cartography showed that the largest antigenic distance among the 37 avian IAVs is about four units, and each unit corresponds to a 2 log 2 difference in the HI titer. However, none of the tested H3 IAVs cross-reacted with ferret sera derived from contemporary swine and human IAVs. Our results showed that the H3 avian IAVs we tested lacked significant antigenic diversity, and these viruses were antigenically different from those circulating in swine and human populations. This suggests that H3 avian IAVs in North American waterfowl are antigenically relatively stable.
| S-EPMC4911812 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The Virochip microarray (version 4.0) was used to detect viruses in patients from North America with unexplained influenza-like illness at the onset of the 2009 H1N1 pandemic.
2010-11-01 | GSE24034 | GEO
Project description:Climate change causes species range shifts and potentially alters biological invasions. The invasion of European earthworm species across northern North America has severe impacts on native ecosystems. Given the long and cold winters in that region that to date supposedly have slowed earthworm invasion, future warming is hypothesized to accelerate earthworm invasions into yet non-invaded regions. Alternatively, warming-induced reductions in soil water content (SWC) can also decrease earthworm performance. We tested these hypotheses in a field warming experiment at two sites in Minnesota, USA by sampling earthworms in closed and open canopy in three temperature treatments in 2010 and 2012. Structural equation modeling revealed that detrimental warming effects on earthworm densities and biomass could indeed be partly explained by warming-induced reductions in SWC. The direction of warming effects depended on the current average SWC: warming had neutral to positive effects at high SWC, whereas the opposite was true at low SWC. Our results suggest that warming limits the invasion of earthworms in northern North America by causing less favorable soil abiotic conditions, unless warming is accompanied by increased and temporally even distributions of rainfall sufficient to offset greater water losses from higher evapotranspiration.
| S-EPMC4217098 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Varestrongylus eleguneniensis (Nematoda; Protostrongylidae) is a recently described species of lungworm that infects caribou (Rangifer tarandus), muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus) and moose (Alces americanus) across northern North America. Herein we explore the geographic distribution of V. eleguneniensis through geographically extensive sampling and discuss the biogeography of this multi-host parasite. We analyzed fecal samples of three caribou subspecies (n = 1485), two muskox subspecies (n = 159), and two moose subspecies (n = 264) from across northern North America. Protostrongylid dorsal-spined larvae (DSL) were found in 23.8%, 73.6%, and 4.2% of these ungulates, respectively. A portion of recovered DSL were identified by genetic analyses of the ITS-2 region of the nuclear rDNA or the cytochrome oxidase c subunit I (COI) region of the mtDNA. We found V. eleguneniensis widely distributed among caribou and muskox populations across most of their geographic prange in North America but it was rare in moose. Parelaphostrongylus andersoni was present in caribou and moose and we provide new geographic records for this species. This study provides a substantial expansion of the knowledge defining the current distribution and biogeography of protostrongylid nematodes in northern ungulates. Insights about the host and geographic range of V. eleguneniensis can serve as a geographically extensive baseline for monitoring current distribution and in anticipating future biogeographic scenarios under a regime of accelerating climate and anthropogenic perturbation.
| S-EPMC6965202 | biostudies-literature