Chlamydial diversity and predictors of infection in a wild Australian parrot, the Crimson Rosella (Platycercus elegans).
Helena S. Stokes,Johanne M. Martens,Martina Jelocnik,Ken Walder,Yonatan Segal,Mathew L. Berg,Andrew T. D. Bennett +6 more
TLDR
The findings suggest that wild parrots are a reservoir of both known and novel Chlamydiales lineages, of zoonotic and pathogenic potential, and indicate that host-specific and temporal factors are associated with infection risk.Abstract:
Members of the Chlamydia genus are known to cause disease in both humans and animals. A variety of other species in the order Chlamydiales are increasingly being discovered and emerging as potential pathogens, yet there are scarce data on the diversity, prevalence and impacts of these pathogens in wild birds. To address this gap, we investigated which Chlamydiales species are present in a wild population of a common Australian parrot, the Crimson Rosella (Platycercus elegans). We collected cloacal swabs and serum from 136 individuals in south-eastern Australia, over two years, and tested several predictors of prevalence: age, sex, season and breeding status. We used multiple PCR assays to determine bacterial prevalence in cloacal swabs and a solid-phase ELISA to determine seroprevalence. We found Chlamydiales PCR prevalence of 27.7% (95% CI 20.2, 36.2) and identified at least two families (Chlamydiaceae and Parachlamydiaceae). Regarding known chlamydial avian pathogens, we found C. psittaci at 6.2% (95% CI 2.7, 11.8) and C. gallinacea at 4.6% (95% CI 1.7, 9.8) prevalence. We also identified at least two potentially novel Chlamydiales species, of unknown pathogenicity. Sex and breeding status predicted Chlamydiales PCR prevalence, with females more likely to be infected than males, and non-breeding birds more likely to be infected than breeding birds. Seroprevalence was 16% (95% CI 8.8, 25.9). Season and breeding status were strong predictors of seroprevalence, with highest seroprevalence in autumn and in non-breeding birds. Our results reveal a diversity of Chlamydiales species in this abundant wild host, and indicate that host-specific and temporal factors are associated with infection risk. Our findings suggest that wild parrots are a reservoir of both known and novel Chlamydiales lineages, of zoonotic and pathogenic potential.read more
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Journal Article
Fast Tree: Computing Large Minimum-Evolution Trees with Profiles instead of a Distance Matrix
TL;DR: FastTree as mentioned in this paper uses sequence profiles of internal nodes in the tree to implement neighbor-joining and uses heuristics to quickly identify candidate joins, then uses nearest-neighbor interchanges to reduce the length of the tree.
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Enzootie Psittacosis amongst Wild Australian Parrots.
TL;DR: A large proportion of recently caught individuals of Psephotus haematonotus, Trichoglossus, and Leptolophus hollandicus are infected.
Journal ArticleDOI
Species, sex and geographic variation in chlamydial prevalence in abundant wild Australian parrots.
Helena S. Stokes,Johanne M. Martens,Ken Walder,Yonatan Segal,Mathew L. Berg,Andrew T. D. Bennett +5 more
TL;DR: A higher chlamydial prevalence than previously reported in many wild parrots is revealed, with implications for potential reservoirs, and transmission risks to humans and other avian hosts.
A novel Chlamydiaceae-like bacterium found in faecal specimens from sea birds from Bering Sea
Linus Christerson,Maria Blomqvist,Karin Grannas,Mikael Thollesson,Karine Laroucau,Jonas Waldenström,Ingvar Eliasson,Björn Olsen,Björn Herrmann +8 more
TL;DR: A novel Chlamydiaceae-like bacterium was found in faecal specimens from sea birds from Bering Sea as discussed by the authors, which is a type of sea bird infection.
Journal ArticleDOI
A Review of Chlamydial Infections in Wild Birds.
TL;DR: A review of chlamydial infections in wild avian populations is presented in this paper, where the authors focus on C. psittaci but also consider other Chlamydiaceae and Chlamydia-related bacteria that have been identified in wild birds.
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