Caliendo Valentina, Bellido Martin Beatriz, Fouchier Ron A M, Verdaat Hans, Engelsma Marc, Beerens Nancy, Slaterus Roy
Dutch Wildlife Health Centre, Utrecht University, 3584 CL Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Department of Viroscience, Erasmus MC, 3015 GD Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Viruses. 2024 Dec 27;17(1):24. doi: 10.3390/v17010024.
Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) epizootics have caused repeated mass mortality events among wild birds. The effect of the infection is potentially detrimental for a variety of bird species, including the Peregrine Falcon (). The numbers of wintering and breeding Peregrine Falcons in the Netherlands have recently declined. We investigated the changes in population trends in relation to HPAI H5 virus outbreaks. For this purpose, we analyzed variations in annual numbers of wintering and breeding birds, the virology of reported dead birds, and the presence of the HPAI H5 virus in unhatched eggs. We showed that significant mortalities of Peregrine Falcons had occurred in 2016-2017 and 2020-2023, years of major HPAI H5 virus outbreaks. In particular, the highest rates of bird mortality and HPAI virus infection were reported in 2023. In this year, over 80% (28/32) of the tested birds were positive for HPAI H5 virus. No HPAI H5 virus was present in the eggs. Based on these findings, we concluded that HPAI represents a serious threat to the Peregrine Falcon population in the Netherlands, and, in combination with anthropogenic factors, may contribute to the decline of this species. Targeted HPAI surveillance and disease mitigation measures are necessary for the conservation of this species.
高致病性禽流感（HPAI）疫情在野生鸟类中引发了多次大规模死亡事件。这种感染对包括游隼（）在内的多种鸟类可能具有潜在危害。荷兰越冬和繁殖的游隼数量最近有所下降。我们调查了与HPAI H5病毒爆发相关的种群趋势变化。为此，我们分析了越冬和繁殖鸟类年度数量的变化、报告死亡鸟类的病毒学情况以及未孵化卵中HPAI H5病毒的存在情况。我们发现，在2016 - 2017年和2020 - 2023年这两个HPAI H5病毒大爆发的年份，游隼出现了显著死亡。特别是在2023年，报告的鸟类死亡率和HPAI病毒感染率最高。在这一年，超过80%（28/32）的检测鸟类HPAI H5病毒呈阳性。卵中未检测到HPAI H5病毒。基于这些发现，我们得出结论，HPAI对荷兰的游隼种群构成严重威胁，并且与人为因素共同作用，可能导致该物种数量下降。针对性的HPAI监测和疾病缓解措施对于保护该物种是必要的。
