Exposure of yellow-legged gulls to Toxoplasma gondii along the Western Mediterranean coasts: Tales from a sentinel.

ABSTRACT: Efficiently tracking and anticipating the dynamics of infectious agents in wild populations requires the gathering of large numbers of samples, if possible at several locations and points in time, which can be a challenge for some species. Testing for the presence of specific maternal antibodies in egg yolks sampled on the colonies could represent an efficient way to quantify the exposure of breeding females to infectious agents, particularly when using an abundant and widespread species, such as the yellow-legged gull (Larus michahellis). We used such an approach to explore spatio-temporal patterns of exposure to Toxoplasma gondii, a pathogenic protozoan responsible of toxoplasmosis in humans and other warm-blooded vertebrates. First, we tested the validity of this approach

SUBMITTER: Gamble A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6404646 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature