Avian influenza antibody prevalence increases with mercury contamination in wild waterfowl.

ABSTRACT: Environmental contamination is widespread and can negatively impact wildlife health. Some contaminants, including heavy metals, have immunosuppressive effects, but prior studies have rarely measured contamination and disease simultaneously, which limits our understanding of how contaminants and pathogens interact to influence wildlife health. Here, we measured mercury concentrations, influenza infection, influenza antibodies and body condition in 749 individuals from 11 species of wild ducks overwintering in California. We found that the odds of prior influenza infection increased more than fivefold across the observed range of blood mercury concentrations, while accounting for species, age, sex and date. Influenza infection prevalence was also higher in species with higher average mercury

SUBMITTER: Teitelbaum CS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9449466 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature