The Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust, Durham, UK.
Avian Pathol. 2020 Feb;49(1):74-79. doi: 10.1080/03079457.2019.1667478. Epub 2019 Oct 16.
Infection of wild red grouse by was first diagnosed in 2010. Within three years, signs of infection were reported from grouse on half of all grouse moors in northern England, bringing severe concerns of economic losses to grouse shooting. A total of 45,914 red grouse shot from 10 moors in northern England between 2013 and 2018 were visually screened for signs of respiratory cryptosporidiosis. Prevalence varied with age, being twice as high in juveniles (4.5%) as in adults (2.4%). It also varied nine-fold between moors and three-fold between years. Prevalence was highest in grouse shot later in the shooting season. Our results are consistent with the concept that disease incidence is highest in naïve juveniles that have previously not been exposed to infection, with prevalence dropping as birds develop immunity. We found no evidence of increased prevalence over time, and fears of escalated disease prevalence, bringing with it increased mortality and lowered productivity, that may have significant impacts on the economic viability of shoots, have not yet been realized. We recommend continued annual screening for clinical signs amongst shot birds, better hygiene associated with potential reservoirs of infection, and practices that both improve the detection and selective culling of diseased individuals and generally reduce overall grouse densities.
2010 年首次诊断出野生红松鸡感染该病。在三年内，英格兰北部一半的松鸡猎场都报告了感染的迹象，这给松鸡狩猎带来了严重的经济损失担忧。2013 年至 2018 年，从英格兰北部的 10 个猎场共拍摄了 45914 只红松鸡，对其进行了呼吸道隐孢子虫病的视觉筛查。患病率随年龄而变化，幼鸟（4.5%）是成年鸟（2.4%）的两倍。它在猎场之间相差九倍，在年份之间相差三倍。在狩猎季节后期拍摄的松鸡中，患病率最高。我们的结果与以下概念一致，即疾病发病率在以前未接触过感染的天真幼鸟中最高，随着鸟类产生免疫力，患病率会下降。我们没有发现患病率随时间增加的证据，也没有出现人们担心的疾病流行率上升的情况，这种情况可能会导致死亡率上升和生产力下降，这可能会对狩猎的经济可行性产生重大影响，但这种情况尚未成为现实。我们建议继续对射击鸟类进行年度临床症状筛查，改善与潜在感染源相关的卫生条件，以及采取既能提高对患病个体的检测和选择性扑杀，又能普遍降低总体松鸡密度的做法。
