RAPID: Measuring host competence across wild bird species during outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza

该RAPID将研究目前在北美鸟类中爆发的高致病性禽流感（HPAI），重点关注宿主能力，以此作为估计哪些物种是主要宿主和来源的一种方法。高致病性禽流感去年在北美的传播对野生鸟类和家禽的健康造成了灾难性后果。该病毒很容易跨越物种障碍，导致人们担心高致病性禽流感在动物中的持续传播可能会在人类中引发大流行。就受感染禽鸟的数量和受影响的地理区域而言，目前北美疫情的规模是前所未有的。这种高致病性禽流感毒株是一种多宿主病原体，在北美显示出在野生鸟类和家禽之间来回传播。高致病性禽流感在美国的传播涉及的鸟类比以前观察到的更广泛，远远超出了传统的家禽宿主。美国有1000多种野生鸟类，在过去的6个月里，有100多种野生鸟类感染了高致病性禽流感。高致病性禽流感可引起从轻微到严重不等的疾病，在极端情况下可导致死亡，这取决于野生鸟类的种类。对疫情的快速反应对于确定野生鸟类如何促进美国的传播至关重要，目的是开发模型来预测病毒跳到新宿主的风险。由于缺乏关于野生鸟类宿主能力的信息，目前在预测野生鸟类将如何影响高致病性禽流感传播方面存在挑战，宿主能力的定义是个体感染并引起其他宿主感染的能力。表征宿主能力需要一种系统的方法来统一宿主特征（疾病严重程度、身体状况）和病原体特征（复制动力学、病原体活力）。这项研究将利用与野生动物管理人员和康复诊所建立的广泛而发达的合作网络，以确保北大西洋鸟类的广泛多样性，北大西洋已成为高致病性禽流感的地理热点地区。本研究将描述野生鸟类宿主能力的范围，并通过测试水生觅食和捕食水生物种是否与传播有关，将野生鸟类的生态和生活史特征整合到疾病预测模型中。获得的信息对于建立对高致病性禽流感动态的机制理解至关重要，从而在疫情展开时就动物和人类健康作出更明智的决策。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This RAPID will study the current outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in North American birds, focusing on host competence as a way to estimate which species are primary reservoirs and sources. The spread of HPAI in North America in the past year poses catastrophic consequences for the health of wild birds and poultry. The virus can readily jump the species barrier leading to concerns that continued spread of HPAI in animals could start a pandemic in humans. The scale of the current North American outbreak is unprecedented both in terms of the number of infected birds, and the geographic area impacted. This strain of HPAI is a multi-host pathogen that within North America is demonstrating transmission back and forth between wild birds and poultry. The spread of HPAI in the U.S. has involved a wider diversity of birds than previously observed - well beyond the traditional poultry reservoir. There are over 1,000 wild bird species in the U.S. and over 100 species have become infected with HPAI in the last 6 months. Depending on the wild bird species, HPAI can cause disease ranging from mild to severe, or in extreme cases death. A rapid response to the outbreaks is crucial to identify how wild birds are contributing to transmission in the U.S. with the goal of developing models to predict the risk of the virus jumping to novel hosts. Currently there are challenges with predicting how wild birds will influence HPAI transmission due to a lack of information about their host competence, defined as the ability of an individual to become infected and cause infection in other hosts. Characterizing host competence requires a systems approach to unify host traits (disease severity, body condition) and pathogen traits (replication dynamics, pathogen viability). This study will capitalize on an extensive and well-developed network of collaborations with wildlife managers and rehabilitation clinics to ensure sampling of a wide diversity of birds in the North Atlantic, a region that has emerged as a geographic hotspot for HPAI. This study will characterize the range of host competence of wild birds and will integrate ecological and life-history traits of wild birds into models of disease prediction by testing whether aquatic foraging and predation on aquatic species are linked to transmission. Information gained will be critical to develop a mechanistic understanding of HPAI dynamics, allowing for more informed decision-making about animal and human health as the outbreak unfolds.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.