Light pollution increases West Nile virus competence of a ubiquitous passerine reservoir species.

ABSTRACT: Among the many anthropogenic changes that impact humans and wildlife, one of the most pervasive but least understood is light pollution. Although detrimental physiological and behavioural effects resulting from exposure to light at night are widely appreciated, the impacts of light pollution on infectious disease risk have not been studied. Here, we demonstrate that artificial light at night (ALAN) extends the infectious-to-vector period of the house sparrow (Passer domesticus), an urban-dwelling avian reservoir host of West Nile virus (WNV). Sparrows exposed to ALAN maintained transmissible viral titres for 2 days longer than controls but did not experience greater WNV-induced mortality during this window. Transcriptionally, ALAN altered the expression of gene regulatory networks includin

SUBMITTER: Kernbach ME 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6661335 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature