Journal ArticleDOI
First cases of squirrelpox in red squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris) in Scotland.
Colin McInnes,Lesley Coulter,Mark P. Dagleish,C. Fiegna,Janice Gilray,Kim Willoughby,M. Cole,Elspeth Milne,Anna Meredith,David J. Everest,A. M. MacMaster +10 more
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TLDR
Four squirrels examined had gross external lesions and histological lesions typical of squirrelpox disease, but no significant internal lesions, and the diagnosis was confirmed by PCR, electron microscopy and serology.Abstract:
Squirrelpox, caused by a poxvirus, is a major threat to the remaining UK red squirrel population. The spread of antibody-positive grey squirrels has been monitored in the UK for the past decade. In 2005 grey squirrels that had been exposed to the virus appeared in the south of Scotland for the first time, followed approximately two years later by the appearance of squirrelpox disease in the local red squirrels. Four squirrels were examined. They all had gross external lesions and histological lesions typical of squirrelpox disease, but no significant internal lesions. The diagnosis was confirmed by PCR, electron microscopy and serology.read more
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Emerging infectious diseases of wildlife: a critical perspective.
TL;DR: Exposure to domestic sources of infection and human-assisted exposure to wild sources were identified as the two main drivers of emergence across host taxa; the domestic source was primary for fish while the wild source wasPrimary for other taxa.
Journal ArticleDOI
Invading with biological weapons: the importance of disease-mediated invasions
TL;DR: It is concluded thatDMIs are a widespread phenomenon, spillover is more common in animal invasions and spillback more common among plant invasions, and that spillover DMIs are particularly important in explaining the replacement of native animals with phylogenetically similar non-indigenous species.
Journal ArticleDOI
European red squirrel population dynamics driven by squirrelpox at a gray squirrel invasion interface.
Julian Chantrey,Timothy D. Dale,Jonathan M. Read,Steve White,Fiona Whitfield,David Jones,Colin McInnes,Michael Begon +7 more
TL;DR: Analysis indicates that SQPx in red squirrels has a significant negative impact on squirrel densities and their population growth rate (PGR), and highlights the UK red squirrel – gray squirrel system as a classic example of a native species population decline strongly facilitated by infectious disease introduced by a non-native species.
Journal ArticleDOI
Epidemiology of squirrelpox virus in grey squirrels in the UK
C. M. Bruemmer,Steve P. Rushton,John Gurnell,Peter W. W. Lurz,Peter Nettleton,Anthony W. Sainsbury,J. P. Duff,Janice Gilray,Colin McInnes +8 more
TL;DR: Results indicated a heterogeneous prevalence pattern which is male-biased, increases with weight and varies seasonally, which point towards a direct disease transmission route, which includes environmental contamination, that red squirrel conservation management options should seek to minimize squirrel contact points.
Journal ArticleDOI
The emergence of squirrelpox in Ireland.
Colin McInnes,Lesley Coulter,Mark P. Dagleish,David Deane,Janice Gilray,Ann Percival,Kim Willoughby,Michael Scantlebury,Nikki J. Marks,D. Graham,David J. Everest,M. McGoldrick,J. Rochford,F. McKay,Anthony W. Sainsbury +14 more
TL;DR: Serological evidence of the extent of poxvirus infection in the grey squirrels from both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, including an apparent increase in the seroprevalence of antibodies against the virus ingrey squirrels over the period of the study is presented.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI
Ecological replacement of native red squirrels by invasive greys driven by disease
TL;DR: It is shown that parapoxvirus is likely to have played a crucial role in the red squirrel decline even though the prevalence of infection is low, and conservationists should pay particular attention to pathogens, even when they occur at low prevalence.
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Parapoxvirus causes a deleterious disease in red squirrels associated with UK population declines
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors validate the potential role of the parapoxvirus in the red squirrel and prove that the virus is highly pathogenic in red squirrel while having no detectable effect on grey squirrel health.
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Modelling the spatial dynamics of parapoxvirus disease in red and grey squirrels: a possible cause of the decline in the red squirrel in the UK?
TL;DR: It is believed that the combined effects on disease transmission of habitat, behaviour and grey squirrels acting as reservoir hosts will lead to a patchy prevalence and sporadic incidence of parapoxvirus disease in red squirrels and a more rapid local replacement bygrey squirrels.
Journal ArticleDOI
Disease threats posed by alien species: the role of a poxvirus in the decline of the native red squirrel in Britain
Steve P. Rushton,Peter W. W. Lurz,John Gurnell,Peter Nettleton,C. Bruemmer,Mark D. F. Shirley,Anthony W. Sainsbury +6 more
TL;DR: Analysis of the incidence of disease and changes in distribution of the two species in Cumbria, from 1993 to 2003 and the predictions of an individual-based (IB) spatially explicit disease model simulating the dynamics of both squirrel species and SQPV in the landscape show grey squirrels increased whilst red squirrels declined.