Pathogen pollution in critically endangered vultures in The Gambia, West Africa

冈比亚是7种秃鹫的家园，其中6种面临灭绝的威胁：4种极度濒危，2种濒临灭绝。作为食腐动物，秃鹫通过吞食腐肉和尸体提供重要的生态服务，从而循环养分并消除环境中潜在的有害病原体。这可能会减轻疾病的传播，对当地食物网产生影响，并对人类健康和经济产生连锁反应。极度濒危的连头秃鹫（Necrosyrtes monachus）是该项目的重点物种，尽管在整个大陆数量下降，但在冈比亚仍保持着强大的种群数量。这些鸟类与该国的人类共生，生活在定居点内和周围。在这个共享空间中，人类和秃鹫很可能都暴露于类似的病原体，包括来自牲畜和其他共享食物来源的病原体。尽管有强大的免疫系统，秃鹫仍然容易感染保护和公共卫生关注的疾病，如禽流感。秃鹫也被发现携带抗微生物细菌病原体。了解秃鹫和其他秃鹫物种的病原菌群落生态，不仅可以指导濒危关键物种的保护工作，还可以为新出现的人畜共患病、对牲畜健康的威胁提供前哨，并为抗生素耐药性提供生物指标。“同一个健康”方针强调人类、动物和环境卫生之间的相互联系，利用跨部门协作和综合方法来应对这些领域面临的全球威胁。全球秃鹫数量下降及其损失的潜在后果表明，需要采取“同一个健康”方法来解决人畜共患疾病问题。冈比亚秃鹫已经成为跨学科研究的对象，包括种群监测、遗传和寄生虫多样性研究。该项目旨在扩大这一范围，包括病原体群落生态学，探索影响冈比亚秃鹫健康和保护状况的致病性威胁，以及这些鸟类在人类健康挑战中发挥的作用。该项目的跨学科性质使其具有许多探索路线——在这个早期阶段，这是一个重点领域的非详尽列表：冈比亚秃鹫和其他秃鹫物种病原体群落生态学研究[j]。2 .环境中潜在的病原体污染源；秃鹫与人之间人畜共患病和人畜共患病反向传播的风险。通过提供生态系统服务，秃鹫在人类、家畜和野生动物以及环境健康中所起的作用。5 .致病性威胁和环境致病性污染对秃鹫种群的影响，必要时确定有助于保护工作的缓解战略。冈比亚秃鹫的当地知识、观念和社会文化价值是OneZoo博士培训中心的一部分，得到了UKRI通过三个研究委员会（BBSRC、MRC、NERC）的支持，该项目符合这些机构的关键战略挑战领域：“生物科学促进对健康的综合理解”；“全球健康”和“感染与免疫”研究；以及“生态学、生物多样性和系统学”。这个项目成功地与UKRI优先级对齐所需的技能，将来自各种学科。这些技能包括：-生态技能-实地工作，包括收集生物和环境样本以及种群监测-分子生物学技能- PCR， DNA测序，血清学分析等，用于鉴定和定量病原体物种，以及探索秃鹫种群的遗传多样性和结构-社会科学技能-探索社会文化视角-统计和数据科学技能，包括生物信息学健康，秃鹫，生态系统服务，人畜共患病，病原体污染，保护

The Gambia is home to seven vulture species, of which six are under threat of extinction: four critically endangered and two endangered. As scavengers, vultures provide crucial ecological services through devouring carrion and carcasses, thereby cycling nutrients and eliminating potentially harmful pathogens from the environment. This may mitigate spread of diseases, with impacts across local food webs and knock-on effects to human health and economies.Critically endangered hooded vultures (Necrosyrtes monachus), the focal species of the project, maintain a strong population in the Gambia despite continental decline. These birds are commensal with humans in the country, living in and around settlements. In this shared space, it is likely both humans and vultures are exposed to a similar suite of pathogens, including from livestock and other shared food sources. Despite strong immune systems, vultures are still susceptible to diseases of conservation and public health concern, such as avian influenza. Vultures have also been found to carry antimicrobial resistant bacterial pathogens. Understanding pathogen community ecology in hooded vultures and other vulture species, could not only guide efforts for the conservation of threatened keystone species, but sentinel for emerging zoonoses, threats to livestock health and provide a bioindicator for AMR. The 'One Health' approach emphasises interconnectivity between human, animal and environmental health, using cross-sectoral collaboration and integrated methods to combat global threats to each of these areas. Global vulture decline, and potential consequences of their loss, exemplifies the need for a One Health approach to zoonotic disease issues. Gambian vultures are already the subject of transdisciplinary research, including population monitoring, genetic, and parasite diversity studies. This project aims to expand this remit to include pathogen community ecology, exploring pathogenic threats affecting the health and conservation status of Gambian vultures, as well as the role these birds play in human health challenges.The transdisciplinary nature of the project lends itself to many routes of exploration - at this early stage, this is a non-exhaustive list of focus areas:1. Pathogen community ecology of hooded vultures and other vulture species in the Gambia2. Potential sources of pathogen pollution in the environment.3. Risk of zoonotic and reverse zoonotic disease transmission between vultures and humans.4. The role that vultures play in human, domestic and wild animal, and environmental health, through ecosystem service provision5. The impact of pathogenic threats and environmental pathogenic pollution on hooded vulture populations, and if needed identification of mitigation strategies to aid conservation efforts.6. Local knowledge, perceptions, and sociocultural value of vultures in the GambiaPart of the OneZoo Centre for Doctoral training, and supported by UKRI through three research councils - BBSRC, MRC, NERC, this project aligns with these bodies' key strategic challenge areas: "bioscience for an integrated understanding of health"; "global health" and "infections and immunity" research; and "ecology, biodiversity and systematics", respectively.Skills necessary for this project to succeed align with UKRI priorities and will come from a variety of disciplines. These include:- Ecological skills - field work, including collection of biological and environmental samples and population monitoring- Molecular biology skills - PCR, DNA sequencing, serological analysis etc, for the identification and quantification of pathogen species, as well as exploration of genetic diversity and structure in vulture populations- Social science skills - exploration of sociocultural perspectives- Statistical and data science skills, including bioinformaticsKeywords: one health, vultures, ecosystem services, zoonoses, pathogen pollution, conservation