The protozoan parasite Trichomonas gallinae causes adult and nestling mortality in a declining population of European Turtle Doves, Streptopelia turtur

• Published in: Parasitology 2015-03, Vol.142 (3), p.490-498
• Main Authors: STOCKDALE, JENNIFER E., DUNN, JENNY C., GOODMAN, SIMON J., MORRIS, ANTONY J., SHEEHAN, DANAË K., GRICE, PHILIP V., HAMER, KEITH C.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Asphyxia - mortality; Asphyxia - parasitology; Asphyxia - veterinary; Bird Diseases - mortality; Bird Diseases - parasitology; Bird Diseases - pathology; Columbidae; Columbidae - parasitology; Female; Galliformes; Galliformes - parasitology; Male; Mortality; Parasites; Population decline; Starvation - mortality; Starvation - parasitology; Starvation - veterinary; Streptopelia turtur; Trichomonas - pathogenicity; Trichomonas gallinae; Trichomonas Infections - mortality; Trichomonas Infections - pathology; Trichomonas Infections - veterinary; Wings, Animal - pathology
• ISSN: 0031-1820; 1469-8161
• DOI: 10.1017/S0031182014001474

Studies incorporating the ecology of clinical and sub-clinical disease in wild populations of conservation concern are rare. Here we examine sub-clinical infection by Trichomonas gallinae in a declining population of free-living European Turtle Doves and suggest caseous lesions cause mortality in adults and nestlings through subsequent starvation and/or suffocation. We found a 100% infection rate by T. gallinae in adult and nestling Turtle Doves (n = 25) and observed clinical signs in three adults and four nestlings (28%). Adults with clinical signs displayed no differences in any skeletal measures of size but had a mean 3·7% reduction in wing length, with no overlap compared to those without clinical signs. We also identified T. gallinae as the suggested cause of mortality in one Red-legged Partridge although disease presentation was different. A minimum of four strains of T. gallinae, characterized at the ITS/5·8S/ITS2 ribosomal region, were isolated from Turtle Doves. However, all birds with clinical signs (Turtle Doves and the Red-legged Partridge) carried a single strain of T. gallinae, suggesting that parasite spill over between Columbidae and Galliformes is a possibility that should be further investigated. Overall, we highlight the importance of monitoring populations for sub-clinical infection rather than just clinical disease.