Epidemiology and dynamics of a newly emergent poxvirus infection in wild birds

2007年，英国首次报告了一种新的传染病--一种天花--的病例。虽然在许多禽类中发现了痘痘，但这种情况通常发生的频率很低，而且通常影响很小。这种新形式的痘发生频率更高，并导致大型感染病变，已被发现可导致野生鸟类死亡，但除此之外，人们对这种疾病是如何传播的以及它对鸟类的影响知之甚少。这种新形式的痘似乎以很高的频率感染山雀，特别是大山雀。2010年5月，这种新疾病出现在牛津附近的大山雀的长期研究种群中，并已增加频率，到2010年11月感染了近10%的大山雀。从最初的病例中研究新疾病的出现是很少见的，这项研究的目的既是为了了解这种疾病对鸟类的影响，也是为了研究决定其通过两个相邻的山雀种群传播的因素，以及更广泛的通过英国的传播。为此，我们将：(1)反复捕捉禽鸟，以研究受感染禽鸟的感染率和疾病的发展；(2)将捕获的信息与长期研究数据相结合，以了解禽类易患疾病的因素；(3)从公众报告中收集有关这种疾病的分布和传播的信息；(4)使用验尸和分子遗传学工具来确定导致这些感染的痘病毒；(5)向公众发出请求，以收集有关2011年这种疾病传播的进一步数据。传染病可能对野生动物构成严重威胁；我们这项研究的目的既是评估这种新疾病对英国常见园艺鸟类的威胁，也是为了了解它在种群中传播的方式。如果我们要在以后的阶段设计干预措施，这些知识是至关重要的。

In 2007 the first cases of a new form of infectious disease - a kind of pox - were reported from common birds in the UK. While pox is found in many birds, this usually occurs in low frequency and often with rather minor effects. The new form of pox occurs at higher frequency, and results in large infected lesions which have been found to cause death in wild birds, but otherwise very little is known about how the disease is transmitted and what effects it has on birds. This new form of pox seems to infect tits, in particular the great tit, at high frequency. In May 2010, this new disease appeared in a long-term study population of the great tit near Oxford, and has increased in frequency to infect almost 10% of great tits by November 2010. It is rare to study the emergence of a novel disease from the first cases, and this research aims both to understand the effect of this disease on birds, but also to study the factors determining its spread through two adjacent populations of tits, as well as more broadly through the UK. In order to do so we will: (1) Catch birds repeatedly to study rates of infection and the progression of the disease in infected birds;(2) Integrate information from captures with long-term study data to understand factors predisposing birds to disease;(3) Collate information from reports from the public concerning the distribution and spread of this disease;(4) Use post-mortem examination and molecular genetic tools to identify the pox virus responsible for these infections;(5) Issue requests to the public to collect further data on the spread of this disease in 2011.Infectious diseases can represent serious threats to wildlife; our aim with this research is both to assess the threat that this new disease poses to common UK garden birds, as well as to develop an understanding of the way in which it spreads through populations. Such knowledge is vital if we were to design interventions at a later stage.