New Publication on Vulture, farming practices and diseases !

Blanco, G., Cortés-Avizanda, A., Frias, Ó., Arrondo, E., Donázar, J.A. 2019 Livestock farming practices modulate vulture diet-disease interactions Global Ecology and Conservation. doi: 10.1016/j.gecco.2018.e00518

Photo. A.Cortes-Avizanda,M. de la Riva, R. Sanchez-Carrion

Abstract: Low- and high-intensity farming exert different direct and indirect effects on vulture populations by driving the availability, exploitation and characteristics of carrion. This is especially true for the levels of pharmaceuticals in wild and domestic animal carcasses. However, the impact of farming systems on the diet-related health of avian scavengers remains unclear. Here, we evaluate diet and disease signs in nestlings of three European species of vultures (Cinereous, Aegypius monachus, Griffon, Gyps fulvus, and Egyptian, Neophron percnopterus), living in different regions of Spain under contrasting farming schemes.
We test the hypothesis that disease (oral mucosal lesions caused by mixed fungal and bacterial infections) in vultures is influenced by features of food and foraging conditions derived from farming systems, especially due to the expected chronic and irregular ingestion of pharmaceuticals under intensive (factory farms) compared to extensive systems. A large proportion of nestlings of the three vulture species in central Spain (high-intensity farming area) continue to be affected by oral lesions (cinereous: 75%, n = 16; griffon: 61%, n = 28; Egyptian: 46%, n = 13). The same type of lesions, at a much lower frequency, was found in nestling of the three vulture species in each of the selected areas corresponding to low-intensity farming areas in southern and northern Spain (Cinereous: 39%, n = 13; Griffon: 7%, n = 14; Egyptian: 6%, n = 17). As predicted, a positive relationship was found between the proportion of nestlings with lesions and the frequency of intensive livestock from factory farms (swine and poultry) in the diet. The intensive medication in factory farms deserves further research to assess its implications in vulture diet-disease interactions at large geographical scales. Assessing the presence of oral lesions as an indicator of physiological alterations is encouraged along with pharmacovigilance in surveillance programs aimed at evaluating the direct and indirect effects of livestock farming practices on vulture health. Given the increasing exploitation of domestic instead of wild animals by vultures, the growth in high-intensity farming and the medication practices in free-ranging and semi-extensive farming systems, this assessment would help to characterize the risks associated with different farming operations for wildlife. This evaluation is crucial to avoid exacerbating the detrimental consequences of supplementary feeding programs contrary to their primary aim of the conservation of endangered species.

New Publication on Tiger Mosquito presence !

Sanz-Aguilar, A., Rosselló, R, Bengoa, M, Ruiz-Pérez, M., Barceló, C., Borrás, D., Paredes-Esquivel, C., Miranda, M.-A. and Tavecchia, G., 2018. Water associated with residential areas and tourist resorts is the key predictor of Asian tiger mosquito presence on a Mediterranean island. Medical and Veterinary Entomology, doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/mve.12317

 

Abstract: The Asian tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae), is a highly invasive species and a vector of several viruses of serious concern to public health. Investigating the habitat selection of this species at small to medium scales is essential to the planning of effective prevention and control campaigns.

The present group considered detailed data for this species' presence/absence collected at 228 sites on Mallorca Island (Spain) in autumn 2015, 3 years after the first detection of the species on the island. Site occupancy models accounting for false negative detections and imperfect monitoring were used to evaluate the relationships between mosquito presence and habitat variables. In the study area, mosquito presence was negatively associated with altitude, probably as a result of greater human presence at low altitudes near the coast. 

Moreover, the presence of Ae. albopictus was positively associated with swimming pools as a result of associated gardens, plants and sources of fresh water. These two variables were combined to predict the presence of the species across the entire island.

The publication has been noticed by many journals. You can find a press release in Spanish and the list of the other notes here