Discovery of Avian Paramyxoviruses APMV-1 and APMV-6 in Shorebirds and Waterfowl in Southern Ukraine.

Emerging RNA virus infections are a growing concern among domestic poultry industries due to the severe impact they can have on flock health and economic livelihoods. Avian paramyxoviruses (APMV; avulaviruses, AaV) are pathogenic, negative-sense RNA viruses that cause serious infections in the respiratory and central nervous systems. APMV was detected in multiple avian species during the 2017 wild bird migration season in Ukraine and studied using PCR, virus isolation, and sequencing. Of 4090 wild bird samples collected, mostly from southern Ukraine, eleven isolates were grown in ovo and identified for APMV serotype by hemagglutinin inhibition test as: APMV-1, APMV-4, APMV-6, and APMV-7. To build One Health's capacity to characterize APMV virulence and analyze the potential risks of spillover to immunologically naïve populations, we sequenced virus genomes in veterinary research labs in Ukraine using a nanopore (MinION) platform. RNA was extracted and amplified using a multiplex tiling primer approach to specifically capture full-length APMV-1 (n = 5) and APMV-6 (n = 2) genomes at high read depth. All APMV-1 and APMV-6 fusion (F) proteins possessed a monobasic cleavage site, suggesting these APMVs were likely low virulence, annually circulating strains. Utilization of this low-cost method will identify gaps in viral evolution and circulation in this understudied but important critical region for Eurasia.

Plastic-derived contaminants in Aleutian Archipelago seabirds with varied foraging strategies.

Phthalates, plastic-derived contaminants, are of increasing global concern. This study quantified phthalates in seabirds collected across >1700 km of the Aleutian Islands, Alaska, and contributes to a body of knowledge on plastic contaminants in marine wildlife. We measured six phthalate congeners in seabirds representing ten species and four feeding guilds. Phthalates were detected in 100% of specimens (n = 115), but varied among individuals (3.64-539.64 ng/g). DEHP and DBP occurred at an order of magnitude higher than other congeners. Total phthalates did not vary geographically, but differed among feeding guilds, with significantly higher concentrations in diving plankton-feeders compared to others. Plastic particles were detected in 36.5% of randomly subsampled seabird stomachs (n = 74), suggesting plastic ingestion as a potential route of phthalate exposure. Our findings suggest feeding behavior could influence exposure risk for seabirds and lend further evidence to the ubiquity of plastic pollutants in marine ecosystems.

A system in which available energy per se controls alpha diversity: marine pelagic birds.

An attractive explanation for large-scale gradients of species richness is that trophic energy flux defines living systems. It has yet to be shown that available energy may matter per se, that is, directly and independent of other potential determinants that are usually inescapably correlated (e.g., area, glacial history, or habitat complexity). By using a comprehensive conceptual framework addressing the variation of species richness, we report that in communities of birds regularly foraging in marine pelagic waters during the breeding season, species richness is above all directly linked to the appropriation of metabolic energy. Auxiliary energy supplied by wind and waves is likely to mitigate energetic constraints and thereby codetermine the expansion of niche space, along with an array of other subordinate factors. We emphasize that this system is markedly different from studied communities of terrestrial endotherms or marine exotherms in which habitat complexity and mutagenic solar radiation/temperature, respectively, may be more decisive than the appropriation of trophic energy flux shares as such. While the seabird system suggests that species-energy curves may sometimes directly translate into species-energy relationships, this situation may be rare rather than typical.

Two species of Synhimantus (dispharynx) railliet, Henry and Sisoff, 1912 (Nematoda: Acuarioidea: Acuariidae), in passerine birds from the Area de Conservacion Guanacaste, Costa Rica.

Members of 2 species of Synhimantus (Dispharynx) live under the lining of the gizzard in passerine birds from the Area de Conservacion Guanacaste, Costa Rica. Synhimantus (Dispharynx) nasuta (Rudolphi, 1819) occurs in Thraupis episcopus, Turdus grayi, Caryothraustes poliogaster, Platyrinchus cancrominus, Ramphocaenus melanurus, Vermivora peregrina, and Geothlypis poliocephala. A single male, in Turdus grayi, apparently representing a new species, distinguishable from all other species of Synhimantus (Dispharynx) by having similar shaped left and right spicules, is described but not named.

A new species of Syncuaria Gilbert, 1927 (Nematoda: Acuarioidea: Acuariidae) in the wood stork, Mycteria americana L. (Aves: Ciconiiformes: Ciconiidae) from the Area de Conservacion Guanacaste, Costa Rica.

Syncuaria mycteriae n. sp. (Nematoda: Acuarioidea) was collected under the lining of the gizzard of a wood stork, Mycteria americana L., from the Area de Conservacion Guanacaste, Costa Rica. The new species can be distinguished from all known species of Syncuaria by having irregular dotted ornamentations on the caudal alae of males, a complex distal end of the left spicule comprising 3 protuberances, and a spicule ratio of 1:9.3. Preliminary phylogenetic analysis of 11 Syncuaria spp. based on 9 morphological characters produced 2 equally parsimonious cladograms with a consistency index of 85%, differing only in the placement of S. hargilae. The phylogenetic analysis suggests that the new species is the sister species of S. leptoptili, whose male members have a single protuberance on the left spicule. Furthermore, the analysis suggests that the plesiomorphic host group for the genus is Ciconiiformes, specifically Ciconiidae (host for 5 species), with 2 species occurring in Threskiornithidae (also Ciconiiformes), possibly as a result of cospeciation, and 2 species each occurring in Pelecaniformes and Podicipediformes, resulting from 4 episodes of speciation by host switching.

Two species of Acuaria Bremser, 1811 (Nematoda: Acuarioidea: Acuariidae) in passerine birds from the Area de Conservacion Guanacaste, Costa Rica.

Two species of Acuaria were collected from passerine birds from the Area de Conservacion Guanacaste, Costa Rica. Acuaria mayori Lent, Freitas and Proenca, 1945, was collected from Myiarchus nuttingi. Specimens from Costa Rica differ from the original description by having a spicule ratio of 1:1.5-1.7 versus 1:1.43-1.47, as well as shorter spicules and female tails. Acuaria wangi n. sp. in Hylophylax naevioides and Gymnopithys leucaspis resembles A. alii, A. crami, A. cyanocitta, A. minuta, A. pattoni, and A. cissae by having cordons extending posteriorly to the anterior portion of the glandular esophagus. The new species differs from A. alii by having 4 pairs of preanal and 6 pairs of postanal papillae rather than 2 pairs of preanal and 7 pairs of postanal papillae, a shorter left spicule, a spicule ratio of 1:1.6-1.8 versus 1:1.1 and in having spicules with blunt rather than pointed distal ends. Acuaria crami and A. minuta differ from A. wangi by having 7 pairs of postanal papillae and spicule ratios of 1:1.6-1.8 versus 1:1.3 in A. crami and 1:1.1 in A. minuta; in addition, A. minuta has spatulate-shaped spicules and a tricupsid-shaped distal end of the right spicule. The new species can be distinguished from A. pattoni by having a longer left spicule and a spicule ratio of 1:1.6-1.8 versus 1:1 and from A. cissae by having a shorter left spicule and a spicule ratio of 1:1.6-1.8 versus 1:2.5-2.7. Acuaria wangi is similar to A. cyanocitta, which has similarly shaped spicules, including a very pointed distal end of the left spicule, but differs in body length, in having shorter spicules, in the arrangement of postanal papillae, and in having smaller eggs.

Whallwachsia illuminata n. gen., n. sp. (Trematoda: Digenea: Plagiorchiformes: Prosthogonimidae) in the steely-vented hummingbird Amazilia saucerrottei (Aves: Apodiformes: Trochilidae) and the yellow-olive flycatcher Tolmomyias sulphurescens (Aves: Passeriformes: Tyraninidae) from the Area de Conservación Guanacaste, Guanacaste, Costa Rica.

A new species of digenean found in the intestines of the steely-vented hummingbird Amazilia saucerrottei and the yellow-olive flycatcher Tolmomyias sulphurescens from the Area de Conservación Guanacaste, Guanacaste, Costa Rica, resembles members of the Prosthogonimidae in having a highly lobate ovary; an elongate cirrus sac containing the cirrus, pars prostatica, and internal seminal vesicle; no external seminal vesicle; 2 fields of extracecal vitelline follicles restricted to the area between the intestinal bifurcation and testes; and uterine loops occupying all available space in the hind body. The new species differs from all other members of the family in having genital pores opening laterally to the cecum, immediately anterior to the acetabular level, and markedly oblique rather than symmetrical testes. Consequently, we propose the new genus Whallwachsia for the species. Preliminary phylogenetic assessment suggests that the species is the sister group of all other prosthogonimids.

Tinamutrema canoae n. gen. et n. sp. (Trematoda: Digenea: Strigeiformes: Brachylaimidae) in Crypturellus cinnamomeus (Aves, Passeriformes, Tinamidae) from the Area de Conservación Guanacaste, Costa Rica.

We propose Tinamutrema as a new genus for Brachylaima centrodes (Braun, 1901) Dollfus, 1935 and for T. canoae, as a new species inhabiting tinamus in the Area de Conservación Guanacaste, Costa Rica. Specimens from Costa Rica resemble B. centrodes in having an elongate body, pretesticular genital pore and terminal genitalia, intercecal uterine loops occupying all available space between the anterior testis and the intestinal bifurcation, an oral sucker width:pharynx width ratio of approximately 1:0.55, an oral sucker:ventral sucker width ratio of approximately 1:1, and vitelline follicles extending into the forebody closer to the pharynx than to the anterior margin of the ventral sucker and by living in the cloaca. They differ from B. centrodes in having vitelline follicles that do not extend as far anteriorly as those in B. centrodes, which extend anteriorly to the level of the anteriormost extent of the cecal "shoulders," dense tegumental spination as opposed to sparse or no spination, relatively smaller cirrus with fewer spines, longer and more sinous pars prostatica, and forebody averaging 36% of total body length (TBL) as opposed to 42% TBL. Both species differ from other members of the Brachylaimidae in possessing a spinose cirrus and a cirrus sac containing both the cirrus and the pars prostatica. Preliminary phylogenetic assessment suggests that these traits are plesiomorphic, and thus the species are basal to the rest of the Brachylaimidae, whose diagnosis we emend accordingly.

Bakkeius moragai n. gen. et n. sp. and Pojmanskia riosae n. gen. et n. sp. (Trematoda: Digenea: Brachylaimoidea) in birds from the Area de Conservación Guanacaste, Costa Rica.

We describe 2 new species of leucochloridiid-like brachylaimoid digeneans parasitizing a variety of birds in the Area de Conservación Guanacaste, Costa Rica, each of which we assign to a new genus. According to Pojmanska's (Pojmanska, T. 2002a. Superfamily Brachylaimoidea Joyeux & Foley, 1930. In Keys to the Trematoda, D. I. Gibson, A. Jones, and R. A. Bray [eds.]. CAB International and The Natural History Museum, London, U.K., p. 31-36.) key for the Brachylaimoidea, we are unable to place either species in any family. One species most closely resembles members of Leucochloridium by having well-developed suckers, lacking an esophagus, and having cecal shoulders, gonads at the posterior end, and the genital pore at posterior end of body but differs by having symmetrical testes, a posttesticular ovary, and a terminal genital pore; thus, we propose the genus Bakkeius for it. The second new genus resembles members of Michajlovia by having ventral genital pores but differs by having extracecal uterine loops in the forebody, a cirrus sac containing the pars prostatica and seminal vesicle, and gland cells surrounding the genital pore; thus, we propose Pojmanskia for it. These new genera must currently be treated as incertae sedis according to Pojmanska (op. cit.); however, we feel that future phylogenetic analyses will require emendation of the family diagnosis for Leucochloridiidae to include those taxa with terminal and ventral genital pores and with preovarian testes.

Procyrnea chabaud, 1958 (Nematoda: Habronematoidea: Habronematidae) in birds from the Area de Conservación Guanacaste, Costa Rica, including descriptions of 3 new species.

Four species of Procyrnea were collected in birds from the Area de Conservacion Guanacaste, Costa Rica. Procyrnea brevicaudata n. sp. in Crypturellus cinnamomeus resembles P. ficheuri, P. murrayi, P. ameerae, P. dollfusi, and P. aptera in lacking lateral alae but differs from all these species in having 2 longitudinal ridges on the left side of the body, in having a sinistral rather than ventral vulvar opening, and in having dorsally bent rather than straight female tails. Procyrnea mawsonae n. sp., in Buteo magnirostris, is similar to P. strialata in body size and in having 2 transverse striated lateral alae, but differs by having longer and differently shaped spicules, and by lacking a single preanal sessile papilla. Procyrnea mclennanae n. sp., in Heliomaster constantii, is similar to P. strialata (Zhang, 1991) and P. mawsonae n. sp. in having 2 transverse striated lateral alae, but it can be distinguished from P. strialata and P. mawsonae in having 4 rather than 3 small teeth on the interior border of the pseudolabia, in having unequal rather than equal lateral alae, and in having longer spicules. Procyrnea sp., on the basis of a single adult male in Campephilus guatemalensis, resembles P. suraiyae, P. tulostoma, and P. unilateralis in possessing a single and long lateral ala, but can be distinguished from P. suraiyae and P. tulostoma in the length of the left spicule, in the left spicule having a bifid distal end, the right spicule having a rounded distal end rather than both spicules having pointed distal ends, and in having the lateral ala beginning at the lip region instead of posterior to the cervical papillae. It differs from P. uncinipenis in having a spicule ratio of 1:3.5 rather than 1:2.5, in the left spicule having a bifid rather than alate distal end, and in the absence of a single preanal papilla.

Neohaematotrephus arayae n. sp. (Digenea: Echinostomiformes: Cyclocoelidae) in Jacana spinosa (Aves: Charadriiformes: Jacanidae) from the Area de Conservación Guanacaste, Costa Rica.

Specimens of a species of cyclocoelid digenean inhabiting Jacana spinosa from the Area de Conservación Guanacaste, Costa Rica, most closely resemble Haematotrephus facioi (Brenes and Arroyo, 1962) Yamaguti, 1971, in the same host from Aranjuez, Puntarenas Province, Costa Rica, in having confluent vitelline follicles posteriorly, diagnostic of Neohaematotrophus, and in pharynx length, ovary width, and cirrus sac on the sinistral side. The new species is also highly similar in appearance to H. gendrei Dubois, 1959, also inhabiting a jacanid (from West Africa), which has vitelline follicles confluent posteriorly, and extending anteriorly to the intestinal bifurcation and genital pore opening immediately posterior to the anterior margin of the pharynx. Like H. facioi, H. gendrei has a relatively much shorter and broader cirrus sac than does the new species. Examination of the holotype and paratype of H. facioi confirmed that the specimens from Guanacaste differ in having a longer body, a larger ovary and eggs, and smaller testes. They also have the ovary on the sinistral rather than the dextral side of the body, genital pore anterior to the pharynx rather than at or posterior to the level of the posterior margin of the pharynx, longer and thinner cirrus sac, and eggs without eyespotted miracidia. Half the eggs in both specimens of H. facioi have well-developed eyespotted miracidia, whereas the typical condition for cyclocoelids is for virtually all eggs to exhibit eyespotted miracidia. Both H. facioi and H. gendrei are transferred to Neohaematotrophus, along with the new species.

Additional observations on blood parasites of birds in Costa Rica.

Birds from the Area de Conservacion Guanacaste in northwestern Costa Rica were surveyed for blood parasites in June 2001 and December 2001-January 2002. Of 354 birds examined, representing 141 species of 35 families and 15 orders, 44 (12.4%) were infected with blood parasites. Species of Haemoproteus (4.8% prevalence), Plasmodium (0.6%), Leucocytozoon (0.3%), Trypanosoma (2.0%), and microfilariae (7.6%) were recorded. Twelve species of birds in this survey were examined for blood parasites for the first time. Several new host-parasite associations were identified.

Ecology of avian influenza virus in birds.

Avian influenza A virus (an orthomyxovirus) is a zoonotic pathogen with a natural reservoir entirely in birds. The influenza virus genome is an 8-segment single-stranded RNA with high potential for in situ recombination. Two segments code for the hemagglutinin (H) and neuraminidase (N) antigens used for host-cell entry. At present, 16 H and 9 N subtypes are known, for a total of 144 possible different influenza subtypes, each with potentially different host susceptibility. With >10,000 species of birds found in nearly every terrestrial and aquatic habitat, there are few places on earth where birds cannot be found. The avian immune system differs from that of humans in several important features, including asynchronous B and T lymphocyte systems and a polymorphic multigene immune complex, but little is known about the immunogenetics of pathogenic response. Postbreeding dispersal and migration and a naturally high degree of environmental vagility mean that wild birds have the potential to be vectors that transmit highly pathogenic variants great distances from the original sources of infection.