Large-scale exposure of southern seabirds to avian cholera Pasteurella multocida: scavengers as sentinels at different spatial scales
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: Seabird communities represent spatially structured social networks within which potential sentinels could inform us where multi-host pathogens could be present. Pasteurella multocida, the agent of avian cholera, is responsible for recurrent massive seabird mortality events on remote Amsterdam Island, Southern Indian Ocean, but little is known about its broad spatial occurrence. To explore its distribution and whether avian scavengers and predators could be used as sentinels, we screened 18 southern seabird species from 11 islands for antibodies against P. multocida (2634 plasma samples). We detected widespread but heterogeneous exposure among host populations. High seroprevalences were found in widely roaming predators and scavengers (giant petrels (Macronectes spp), and brown skua (Stercorarius antarcticus)), which could represent efficient sentinels at broad scales. Antibodies were also detected over a series of years in a non-migratory scavenger, the lesser sheathbill (Chionis minor) and an abundant penguin species, the king penguin (Aptenodytes patagonicus), suggesting that the bacterium was circulating locally at some sites. This broad scale serological screening of whole seabird host communities provides critical information to assess disease emergence risks in the context of global change.
Authors: Jérémy Tornos, Amandine gamble, Augustin Clessin, Tristan Bralet, Mathilde Lejeune, Maëlle Connan, Peter G Ryan, Henri Weimerskirch, Jacob González-Solís, Paulo Catry, Christophe Barbraud, Karine C Delord, Vincent A Viblanc, Aline Flechet, Juliette Baron, France Caza, Amira Tounsi, Sophia Ferchiou, Samuel Perret, Charles-André Bost, Antje Steinfurth, Rozenn Le Net, Jean-Baptiste Thiebot, Fabrice Le Bouard, Célia Lesage, Yves St-Pierre, Hubert Gantelet, Thierry Boulinier
Institutions: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, École Pratique des Hautes Études, Université de Montpellier, Centre d'Écologie Fonctionnelle et Évolutive, Cornell University, Agence Nationale de Sécurité Sanitaire de l’Alimentation, de l’Environnement et du Travail, Nelson Mandela University, University of Cape Town, FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chizé, ISPA - Instituto Universitário, Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien, Université de Strasbourg, Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique, Centre Armand-Frappier Santé Biotechnologie, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Hokkaido University, Terres Australes et Antarctiques Françaises
Language: English
Subfield: Parasitology
Field: Immunology and Microbiology
Domain: Life Sciences
SDG: Life below water
Open Access status: green
Funders: Joint Programming Initiative Water challenges for a changing world, Biodiversa+, Agence Nationale de la Recherche, Association Nationale de la Recherche et de la Technologie, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Institut Polaire Français Paul Emile Victor, Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
Awards: G1281928558, G2028879034, Conservation and restoration of degraded insular biodiversity: impacts of the removal of introduced mammals on the dynamics of infectious diseases in seabirds across islands of the Southern Ocean., Rede de Infraestruturas em Investigação Aquática, G2929218326, G3568042881, G3608173593, Centro de Ciências do Mar e do Ambiente, G4004248748, G4316240261, Conservação e recuperação de biodiversidade insular degradada: impacto da remoção de mamíferos introduzidos na dinâmica de doenças infecciosas em aves marinhas em ilhas do oceano austral, G6220247009, G6744965099, G7078626353, G7276782832, Ecology of the circulation of infectious agents in colonial vertebrate populations: surveillance, understanding and implications for biodiversity conservation in sub-Antarctic islands
OpenAlex ID: W7221592253