Minor differences in body condition and immune status between avian influenza virus-infected and noninfected mallards: a sign of coevolution?

ABSTRACT: Wildlife pathogens can alter host fitness. Low pathogenic avian influenza virus (LPAIV) infection is thought to have negligible impacts on wild birds; however, effects of infection in free-living birds are largely unstudied. We investigated the extent to which LPAIV infection and shedding were associated with body condition and immune status in free-living mallards (Anas platyrhynchos), a partially migratory key LPAIV host species. We sampled mallards throughout the species' annual autumn LPAIV infection peak, and we classified individuals according to age, sex, and migratory strategy (based on stable hydrogen isotope analysis) when analyzing data on body mass and five indices of immune status. Body mass was similar for LPAIV-infected and noninfected birds. The degree of virus shedding fro

SUBMITTER: van Dijk JG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4314274 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature