Meeting Abstract
In 1994, the endemic poultry pathogen Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) was identified as the causative agent of a novel disease in house finches (Haemorhous mexicanus) characterized by swollen eyes. This characteristic eye swelling seen in MG-infected house finches permitted researchers to track the spread and impact of this disease. Following the initial outbreak, MG rapidly spread throughout eastern North American house finch populations, killing an estimated hundreds of millions of house finches. However, MG has only reached western North American populations in the past decade and there may still exist populations, particularly in the southwestern United States, that remain unexposed to this pathogen. Following reports of house finches displaying disease symptoms characteristic of MG infection in Arizona, in August 2011 we trapped house finches at bird feeders in Tempe and Tucson to determine if MG had indeed infected these populations. Upon capture, we noted whether a house finch exhibited swollen eyes and then swabbed the bird’s throat, which is the main site of MG localization. We tested these swabs for the presence of MG DNA using a polymerase chain reaction (PCR). We observed house finches with swollen eyes only in Tucson and only finches from Tucson tested positive for MG by PCR. Thus, we confirm MG has indeed reached Arizona, though as of 2011 at least some populations remained unexposed to MG. In 2014, we resampled these locations to assess the continued prevalence of MG in the Tucson area and determine whether Tempe populations are still unexposed to MG.
