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At least 991 records · Page 55Linked to original sources
PubMed1976

Species identification of blood meals from Culex tarsalis that had fed on passeriform birds.

Blood-engorged Culex tarsalis (4,209) collected during 1960 to 1965 in Kern County, California and previously shown to have fed on passeriform birds by the precipitin test were further tested by the more sensitive passive hemagglutination inhibition test (PHI). It was shown that these mosquitoes fed principally on House Finches and House Sparrows, the most common passeriform birds found in the collection areas. These data demonstrate the usefulness of the PHI test for the identification of arthropod blood meals from closely related species.

Animals↗
PubMed1978

Eastern equine encephalomyelitis in upstate New York: studies of a 1976 epizootic by a modified serologic technique, hemagglutination reduction, for rapid detection of virus infections.

An extensive outbreak of eastern equine encephalomyelitis (EEE) occurred in upstate New York during the summer of 1976, with 37 cases confirmed in horses by isolation of virus and/or by serologic examination. Other specimens collected in the affected area yielded 16 further isolates: 9 from 818 pools of 33,365 mosquitoes, 5 from tissues of 64 birds and 2 from 4 sentinel pheasants with serologic conversions. EEE antibodies were also detected in 81 of 499 wild birds tested. Our data implicate sparrows, cowbirds, and catbirds in the amplification of EEE virus and Culiseta melanura mosquitoes as vectors among avians. During the course of this epizootic a modified serologic technique involving hemagglutination reduction gave reliable diagnoses of EEE as early as 24 hours after receipt of field specimens.

Animals↗
PubMed1980

Toxoplasma gondii in Costa Rican cats.

Toxoplasma gondii infection of cats was studied in seven localities in Costa Rica. A total of 237 cats were tested for antibody by the dye test, and for oocysts by injection into mice. Toxoplasma was isolated from 55 (23%) and antibody was found in 109 (46%). Sixty percent of cats were infected as shown by shedding or antibody. Of the 55 isolations, 64% were from kittens without antibody and 36% from kittens with antibody. Almost half of the Toxoplasma isolations were made from the feces of kittens weighing less than 600 g, 35 cm in length, or under 2 months of age, of which 41% were shedding Toxoplasma. Six hundred and seventy-six homeowners in the seven towns were questioned about the number of owned and stray cats visiting their houses, the cats' pattern of roaming, food sources, types of food foraged, defecation sites outdoors and indoors, and location of fecal deposits in houses. Seventy-six percent of houses reported cats, which averaged 2.1 cats per house; about 80% were strays, and 99% lived outdoors part or all of the time. The cats visited from 5-12 (average 6) houses, foraging for food in garbage, hunting mice, rats, sparrows and insects. Of the 516 households reporting cats, 29% supplied some food in addition. In 14% of these houses cats defecated in the house, including the false attic and crawl space; they commonly defecated in front and backyards of houses, close to human habitation and accessible to intermediate hosts.

Animals↗
PubMed1980

Intermediate and transport hosts of Toxoplasma gondii in Costa Rica.

Toxoplasma gondii was isolated from 3.5% of 202 Mus musculus, 12.5% of 120 Rattus norvegicus, 16% of 106 sparrows (Zonotrichia capensis), and from 54% of 50 chickens from Costa Rica. The infection rate in chickens increased from 23% in those weighing less than 500 g, to 73% in those between 500 and 1,000 g, indicating a rapid rate of acquiring infectin, probably from the soil in which they constantly search for food. No isolates were made from Musca domestica, or from four genera of roaches caught in the wild. However, Toxoplasma was isolated from four of 16 lots of earthworms. Most strains of Toxoplasma isolated from Costa Rican cats produced chronic latent infections in mice. However, even when infected with virulent strains, mice died at a time when numerous bradyzoites had been formed. Also, the availability of bradyzoites in chickens 8-10 days after ingestion of oocysts was comparable to that in mice. Therefore, several infected prey species are available as intermediate hosts to cats, providing the bradyzoites essential for the shedding of large numbers of oocysts. The isolation of Toxoplasma from earthworms or the soil associated with them illustrates their possible role as transport hosts to infect chickens and other birds feeding on them. The possible role of other transport hosts could not be confirmed.

Animals↗
PubMed1980

Characterization of Fort Morgan virus, an alphavirus of the western equine encephalitis virus complex in an unusual ecosystem.

An alphavirus isolated from nestling Cliff Swallows (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota) and House Sparrows (Passer domesticus) and from cimicid bugs (Oeciacus vicarius) in eastern Colorado, for which we propose the name Fort Morgan (FM) virus, is sensitive to the action of sodium deoxycholate, unstable at pH 2.0-4.0, and demonstrates no characteristics of temperature-sensitive mutants. Unpassaged field strains are nonpathogenic, or of low pathogenicity, for suckling mice; however, plaque-purified FM virus is pathogenic for a variety of laboratory hosts. By hemagglutination-inhibition (HI), complement-fixation, and neutralization tests, cross-reactions were observed between FM virus and members of the western equine encephalitis (WEE) virus antigenic complex. Short-incubation HI tests indicated that the new isolate shared closer antigenic relationships with WEE complex virus strains from the eastern United States (Highlands J virus) than with other WEE complex viruses. On the basis of these serological findings, as well as characterization of the structural polypeptides and oligonucleotides, we suggest that FM is a distinct virus belonging to the WEE antigenic complex. A reconsideration of the taxonomy of the WEE complex and discussion of the epizoologic significance of FM virus are presented.

Animals↗
PubMed1980

Recovery of Tonate virus ("Bijou Bridge" strain), a member of the Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis virus complex, from Cliff Swallow nest bugs (Oeciacus vicarius) and nestling birds in North America.

A second virus with distinct biological, serological, and physiochemical properties was detected as a minority viral subpopulation in specimens of Cliff Swallow nest bugs (Oeciacus vicarius) and nestling bird sera containing Fort Morgan (FM) virus. The second virus, detected by a breakthrough neutralization test employing FM antiserum, was present in 5 of 11 FM virus-positive pools of nest bugs and in 4 of 38 birds from Colorado and South Dakota. The concentration of the second virus was 10-fold to 1,000-fold lower than that of FM virus. The second virus, which was provisionally named "Bijou Bridge" (BB) virus was shown by conventional serological tests to be a member of the Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis (VEE) complex, and by tests employing antisera to the E2 viral glycoprotein to be identical with Tonate virus, previously isolated from birds and mosquitoes only in French Guiana. Experimental infection of House Sparrows and Cliff Swallows showed that they develop brief BB viremias and antibodies. Oe. vicarius bugs were resistant to oral infection with BB virus. The epidemiological significance of recovery of Tonate virus in North American is discussed.

Animals↗
PubMed1981

Distribution and prevalence of Mermet virus infections in the central United States.

Tests were run on 3,198 bird sera for neutralizing antibody of Mermet virus. The birds were mostly House Sparrows (Passer domesticus) captured in the central U.S. Antibody was detected in birds from Texas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin, but not Kentucky or Missouri. Antibody prevalence differed by location and between years in similar locations. These results confirmed the widespread activity of Mermet virus in the central U.S., suggested irregular activity of the virus, and provided the first evidence that Mermet virus activity occurs in Mississippi, Indiana, and Wisconsin. No antibody to Mermet virus was found in paired sera from 966 humans with suspected arboviral infection.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

The ecology of western equine encephalomyelitis virus in the Central Valley of California, 1945-1985.

Reeves' concept of the summer transmission cycle of western equine encephalomyelitis virus in 1945 was that the virus was amplified in a silent transmission cycle involving mosquitoes, domestic chickens, and possibly wild birds, from which it could be transmitted tangentially to and cause disease in human and equine populations. Extensive field and laboratory studies done since 1945 in the Central Valley of California have more clearly defined the specific invertebrate and vertebrate hosts involved in the basic virus transmission cycle, but the overall concept remains unchanged. The basic transmission cycle involves Culex tarsalis as the primary vector mosquito species and house finches and house sparrows as the primary amplifying hosts. Secondary amplifying hosts, upon which Cx. tarsalis frequently feeds, include other passerine species, chickens, and possibly pheasants in areas where they are abundant. Another transmission cycle that most likely is initiated from the Cx. tarsalis-wild bird cycle involves Aedes melanimon and the blacktail jackrabbit. Like humans and horses, California ground squirrels, western tree squirrels, and a few other wild mammal species become infected tangentially with the virus but do not contribute significantly to virus amplification.

Aedes↗
PubMed1988

Duration of Alphavirus neutralizing antibody in naturally infected birds.

Native birds, mostly passerine species, ecologically associated with Culiseta melanura, the enzootic vector of eastern equine encephalomyelitis and Highlands J viruses in the eastern United States, were examined over a 12-year period in southeastern Massachusetts. These studies concentrated on those individual birds known, by banding returns, to be residents of large wooded swamps where both eastern equine encephalomyelitis and Highlands J viruses were known to be enzootic. Of 8,417 birds sampled, 1,227 (14.6%) were recaptured one or more times (mean 2.7 times). Antibody profiles on individuals nesting or feeding in enzootic areas were determined from serial blood samples drawn from these recaptured birds. The duration of detectable neutralizing antibody in these birds was found to be ephemeral in some species (e.g., black-capped chickadees) and extremely longlasting in others (e.g., gray catbirds, swamp sparrows). The significance of these findings to arbovirus surveillance programs is discussed.

Alphavirus↗
PubMed2002

Detection of West Nile virus-infected mosquitoes and seropositive juvenile birds in the vicinity of virus-positive dead birds.

Mosquitoes and wild birds were collected from three sites near locations in the New York City metropolitan area where single, West Nile (WN) virus-positive dead birds were found early in the 2000 transmission season. The mosquitoes were tested for the presence of infectious virus with a Vero cell culture assay and for WN viral RNA by using reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) protocols. Serum samples from wild birds were tested for the presence of neutralizing antibodies against WN virus. Infectious WN virus and WN viral RNA were found in Culex species adult mosquitoes from each of the three sites, and a seropositive hatch-year house sparrow (Passer domesticus) was found in one of the three sites. Molecular techniques used to identify the species in the positive mosquito pools found that most of the pools contained a combination of Culex pipiens and Cx. restuans. The minimum infection rate in Culex species mosquitoes from the sites ranged from 0.2 to 6.0 per 1,000 specimens tested. The results demonstrated that, at least early in the transmission season, detection of a WN virus-positive dead bird indicates a local WN virus transmission cycle. This information is valuable in focusing subsequent surveillance and vector management programs. In addition, the RT-PCR procedure for detecting WN viral RNA in mosquito pools detected more positive pools than did the Vero cell plaque assay.

Aging↗
PubMed1990

Formulating a role for occupational therapy in child psychiatry: a clinical application.

Occupational therapy is in need of role clarification within the specialty of child psychiatry. The literature reveals that occupational therapy is often undelineated or unrecognized by child psychiatry, has limited efficacy research, and may be at risk for losing its practice with children hospitalized for psychiatric disturbances. This paper outlines steps for the formulation of a specialized role for occupational therapy within this specialty. The Model of Human Occupation (Kielhofner, 1985) is suggested as a basis for conceptualizing this role. A clinical study focused on the evaluation of adaptive functioning with use of the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales (Sparrow, Balla, & Cicchetti, 1984, 1985) is presented as an example of a way in which occupational therapy can provide assessment data valuable to the interdisciplinary clinical team. The role of occupational therapy in both short-term and long-term hospitalization of children with psychiatric disturbances is described.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1976

Transmission of avian pox from starlings to Rothchild's mynahs.

Several wild species of birds, including starlings (Sturnus vulgaris), house sparrows (Passer domesticus) and pigeons (Columba livia) gained access to an aviary housing Rothchild's mynahs (Leucospar rothchildii) and over 100 additional birds representing a variety of species. Six of approximately 15 mynahs became infected with avian pox and all of them died. None of the other birds in the aviary developed lesions. Pox virus was isolated from mynah facial lesions on chicken chorioallantoic membrane and in duck embryo fibroblast cell culture. It did not produce lesions in white Leghorn chickens, but did produce lesions in 4 of 11 wild starlings captured outside the aviary. Results indicated the agent was an indigenous starling pox capable of infecting and producing disease in mynah birds. Destruction of the captive starlings and isolation of the remaining mynahs immediately stopped the mortality.

Animals↗
PubMed1981

The coccidia of quail in the United States.

Intestinal contents from 12 scaled quail (Callipepla squamata), 10 bobwhite quail (Colinus virginianus), 20 harlequin quail (Cyrtonyx montezumae), 35 California quail (Lophortyx californicus), 15 Gambel's quail (Lophortyx gambelii), and 29 mountain quail (Oreortyx pictus) were examined for coccidian oocysts. Only 18 (14.9%) of 121 birds had coccidian oocysts in their feces at the time of collection; these included 9 L. californicus and 9 O. pictus. Four eimerians and an isosporan were found in the 18 infected birds. Eimeria lophortygis and E. okanaganensis had been previously described from L. californicus, but were also seen in O. pictus. Eimeria crusti sp. n. and Eimeria oreortygis sp. n. are described from O. pictus; E. oreortygis was also found in L. californicus. Broadly ellipsoid oocysts of E. crusti had a rough outer wall, were 26.0 X 21.2 (24-28 X 20-23) microns, and contained ovoid sporocysts 15.7 X 7.5 (14-18 X 7-8)microns. Micropyle and oocyst residuum were absent but a polar granule, sporocyst residuum, Stieda and substieda bodies were present. Slightly ovoid oocysts of E. oreortygis had a smooth outer wall, were 24.4 X 18.7 (21-28 X 17-23) microns, and contained ovoid sporocysts 14.1 X 7.21 (13-16 X 6-9) microns. Micropyle and polar granules were absent but a small oocyst residuum, large sporocyst residuum, Stieda and substieda bodies were present. Oocysts of an isosporan were found and compared to oocysts of Isospora lacazei isolated from sparrows in a previous study.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

Experimental infection of five species of raptors and of hooded crows with Francisella tularensis biovar palaearctica.

Sixteen raptors and three hooded crows were infected experimentally with Francisella tularensis biovar palaearctica. The birds were infected parenterally or per os. One goshawk, one sparrow hawk and one hooded crow died during the experimental period, and the remaining 16 birds were killed 14-77 days after the first infection. Francisella tularensis was not isolated from any bird. Antibody levels against F. tularensis measured in nine birds varied from 0 to 1:1,280. In one goshawk with a titer of 1:1,280, positive fluorescent antibody reactions against F. tularensis were seen in the liver and spleen. These results are similar to those found by other authors indicating that raptors and corvids are normally resistant to infections with F. tularensis.

Agglutination Tests↗
PubMed1995

Serological survey for avian paramyxoviruses from wildfowl in aquatic habitats in Andalusia.

A serological survey for a range of avian paramyxoviruses (PMV) was carried out among wildfowl from southern Spain, 1990 to 1992, using the hemagglutination inhibition technique. We collected 579 sera from 24 avian families (18 aquatic and six non-aquatic). Antibodies were detected to all paramyxoviruses in waterfowl, with a notable prevalence of antibodies to PMV-8 (43%) and to a lesser extent PMV-6 (21%). By contrast, in non-aquatic species high antibody prevalences were detected only to PMV-2 (60%), particularly in sparrows (68%), while antibody prevalences to other PMV's were moderate or low.

Animals↗
PubMed2001

Host range and dynamics of mycoplasmal conjunctivitis among birds in North America.

An epidemic of conjunctivitis among house finches (Carpodacus mexicanus) caused by Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) bacterial infections was first described in 1994. The disease exhibits high primary host specificity, but has been isolated from a limited number of secondary avian hosts at various times and locations. We used records from the House Finch Disease Survey, a continent-wide, volunteer monitoring project, to document the host range of conjunctivitis in birds at feeding stations and to investigate how disease in house finches might influence the spread of conjunctivitis to other hosts. Between 1994 and 1998, participants recorded 675 cases of conjunctivitis in 31 species other than house finches in eastern North America. Seventy five % of these cases were observed among three species: American goldfinches (Carduelis tristis), purple finches (Carpodacus purpureus) and house sparrows (Passer domesticus). The proportion of sites with diseased wintering populations of the three species increased over the 4 yr study and coincided with range expansion of conjunctivitis in house finches. Sites with diseased house finches present were significantly more likely to report conjunctivitis in each of the three species during the same month. These observations are most consistent with transmission of an infectious agent (presumably MG) from house finches to these secondary hosts via spillover of localized epidemics, rather than sustained interspecific transmission.

Animals↗
PubMed1999

Distribution of aromatase, estrogen receptor, and androgen receptor mRNA in the forebrain of songbirds and nonsongbirds.

Androgens and estrogens are crucial for the differentiation and function of the vocal control system of songbirds. A major source of estrogens in songbirds is the cerebral aromatization of circulating testosterone by aromatase (ARO). In the vocal control system, songbirds have a unique estrogen receptor (ER)-containing area, the nucleus hyperstriatalis ventrale pars caudale (HVC) of the caudal neostriatum. Work in the zebra finch has demonstrated ARO expression adjacent to but not in the HVC. Compared with other songbirds, such as the canary, the HVC of adult zebra finches contains only few ERs. To determine whether the disjunctive distribution of ERs and ARO in the forebrain is a songbird-specific feature, the authors investigated ARO and ER mRNA expression in songbirds (canary, house sparrow, and zebra finch) and in nonsongbirds (budgerigar, ring dove, swift, grey partridge, and barn owl) of five avian orders. In addition, the coexpression of androgen receptor (AR) and ARO mRNAs was studied. Preoptic hypothalamic areas showed similar expression of ARO in all species. In the caudal neostriatum, ARO, AR, and ER transcripts were found only in songbirds. ARO and ER mRNA expression in the caudal forebrain was spatially separated, i.e., the HVC contained ER mRNA but very little or no ARO mRNA, and the caudomedial neostriatum contained high levels of ARO mRNA but few if any ERs. ARO and AR mRNAs, however, were coexpressed in the caudomedial neostriatum. The coexpression of ARO mRNA with AR mRNA but not with ER mRNA was found in further brain areas, such as the nucleus posterior lateralis hypothalami. The area-specific coexpression of AR, ER, and ARO suggests various possibilities for the steroid-dependent regulation of ARO and for the role of ARO in controlling AR- and ER-dependent mechanisms.

Animals↗
PubMed1999

Seasonal changes in androgen receptor immunoreactivity in the song nucleus HVc of a wild bird.

In seasonally breeding songbirds, song behavior and neural morphology change seasonally. Song control nuclei are larger during the breeding season, as determined by multiple cytological labels. Seasonal changes in song nuclei are regulated by testosterone (T), and several song nuclei contain intracellular androgen receptors (AR). Changes in AR levels may interact with changes in plasma T levels to regulate song nuclei morphology. We measured seasonal changes in AR-immunoreactive cells in the telencephalic song nucleus HVc using the affinity-purified PG21 antibody to rat AR. We caught wild adult male Gambel's white-crowned sparrows (Zonotrichia leucophrys gambelii) during spring breeding in Alaska and during autumn migration in Washington State. To enhance PG21 labeling, animals were treated with T for 90 minutes (as in Smith et al. [1996] J. Histochem. Cytochem. 44:1075-1080). AR+ cells were found in HVc and other song nuclei, hippocampus, nucleus taeniae (homologue to mammalian amygdala), and the hypothalamus. HVc volume was larger in spring (S) than autumn (A), in both the PG21- and Nissl-stained sections (S:A = 1.9 and 1.7, respectively). In spring, but not autumn, PG21 and Nissl measurements were slightly different (PG21:Nissl = 1.07), perhaps because PG21 labeled the most caudal extent of HVc more clearly. In HVc, AR+ cell density and number were greater in spring. The percentage of AR+ cells was also increased in spring. Qualitatively, the staining intensity of individual cells was higher in spring. In time course studies, the T injection enhanced PG21 staining within 15 minutes, suggesting that it increases labeling via AR translocation to and concentration in the cell nucleus.

Animals↗