Prevalence of IgY antibodies against Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae in a critically endangered parrot (kakapo, Strigops habroptilus) and associated responses to vaccination

• Published in: Avian pathology 2013-08, Vol.42 (5), p.502-507
• Main Authors: Livingston, Megan, Fidler, Andrew, Mellor, Diana, de Kloet, Siwo, Eason, Daryl, Elliott, Graeme, Moorhouse, Ron
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: adults; Age Factors; Animal diseases; Animals; antibodies; Antibodies, Bacterial - blood; bacteria; Bird Diseases - epidemiology; Bird Diseases - microbiology; Bird Diseases - prevention & control; Birds; blood serum; death; Endangered & extinct species; enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay - veterinary; ergotism; Erysipelothrix - immunology; Erysipelothrix - isolation & purification; Erysipelothrix Infections - epidemiology; Erysipelothrix Infections - microbiology; Erysipelothrix Infections - prevention & control; Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae; Gram-positive bacteria; Immunization; Immunoassay; immunoglobulin Y; Immunoglobulins; Immunoglobulins - blood; Male; nestlings; parrots; Parrots - immunology; Parrots - microbiology; Prevalence; Psittaciformes; soil; statistical models; vaccination; Vaccination - veterinary
• ISSN: 1465-3338; 0307-9457; 1465-3338
• DOI: 10.1080/03079457.2013.832146

An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed to estimate levels of IgY antibody against the bacterium Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae in serum samples collected from the critically endangered kakapo (Strigops habroptilus, Psittaciformes, Aves) before and after vaccination against this bacterium. Relative IgY antibody titres in pre-vaccination serum samples (n = 71 individual kakapo) were normally distributed with the exception of four outliers which displayed low IgY levels. Notably all four low IgY samples were collected from fledglings 3 – 6 months old. Pre-vaccination serum samples from nine nestlings