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The ecology of avian influenza viruses in wild dabbling ducks (Anas spp.) in Canada / Zsuzsanna Papp, Robert G. Clark, E. Jane Parmley, Frederick A. Leighton, Cheryl Waldner, and Catherine Soos.

By: Contributor(s): Material type: TextTextSeries: PLoS ONE. 12(5) e0176297 Publication details: 2017.LOC classification:
  • PAP
Online resources: Summary: Avian influenza virus (AIV) occurrence and transmission remain important wildlife and human health issues in much of the world, including in North America. Through Canada's Inter-Agency Wild Bird Influenza Survey, close to 20,000 apparently healthy, wild dabbling ducks (of seven species) were tested for AIV between 2005 and 2011. We used these data to identify and evaluate ecological and demographic correlates of infection with low pathogenic AIVs in wild dabbling ducks (Anas spp.) across Canada. Generalized linear mixed effects model analyses revealed that risk of AIV infection was higher in hatch-year birds compared to adults, and was positively associated with a high proportion of hatch-year birds in the population. Males were more likely to be infected than females in British Columbia and in Eastern Provinces of Canada, but more complex relationships among age and sex cohorts were found in the Prairie Provinces. A species effect was apparent in Eastern Canada and British Columbia, where teal (A. discors and/or A. carolinensis) were less likely to be infected than mallards (A. platyrhynchos). Risk of AIV infection increased with the density of the breeding population, in both Eastern Canada and the Prairie Provinces, and lower temperatures preceding sampling were associated with a higher probability of AIV infection in Eastern Canada. Our results provide new insights into the ecological and demographic factors associated with AIV infection in waterfowl.

Includes bibliographical references.

Avian influenza virus (AIV) occurrence and transmission remain important wildlife and
human health issues in much of the world, including in North America. Through Canada's
Inter-Agency Wild Bird Influenza Survey, close to 20,000 apparently healthy, wild dabbling
ducks (of seven species) were tested for AIV between 2005 and 2011. We used these data
to identify and evaluate ecological and demographic correlates of infection with low pathogenic
AIVs in wild dabbling ducks (Anas spp.) across Canada. Generalized linear mixed
effects model analyses revealed that risk of AIV infection was higher in hatch-year birds
compared to adults, and was positively associated with a high proportion of hatch-year birds
in the population. Males were more likely to be infected than females in British Columbia
and in Eastern Provinces of Canada, but more complex relationships among age and sex
cohorts were found in the Prairie Provinces. A species effect was apparent in Eastern Canada
and British Columbia, where teal (A. discors and/or A. carolinensis) were less likely to
be infected than mallards (A. platyrhynchos). Risk of AIV infection increased with the density
of the breeding population, in both Eastern Canada and the Prairie Provinces, and lower
temperatures preceding sampling were associated with a higher probability of AIV infection
in Eastern Canada. Our results provide new insights into the ecological and demographic
factors associated with AIV infection in waterfowl.

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