Meeting Abstract

P2.32  Sunday, Jan. 5 15:30  The importance of assessing previous pathogen exposure of wild-caught animals used for experimental infection studies: validating methods for detecting house finch exposure to Mycoplasma gallisepticum. RIZK, H E*; STALEY, M; HILL, G E; Auburn University; Auburn University; Auburn University her0007@auburn.edu

Pathogens can drastically impact wildlife and exert strong selective pressures, leading to rapid evolutionary change. Research on how pathogens shape evolutionary histories of organisms is increasingly focused on understanding host-pathogen interactions and variation in disease susceptibility. To answer their questions researchers are turning to controlled experimental infection studies using wild-caught animals. When using wild-caught animals, it is important to have accurate, non-lethal means to detect previous exposure to the pathogen. House finch (Haemorhous mexicanus) infection by the pathogen Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) is a valuable system for studying rapid evolution due to pathogen pressure because MG causes severe respiratory disease and its history in finches is known. In 1994, MG shifted hosts from poultry to house finches, killing over 100 million finches. Before infection studies begin, house finches are tested for previous MG exposure with methods used in poultry. However, the accuracy of these methods in finches has not been validated. Our goal was to validate two non-lethal methods, antibody testing and tracheal swabs, used to detect MG exposure in house finches. We collected tracheal swabs, blood, and tracheal tissues from wild-caught house finches. We tested the tracheal swabs and tissues for MG DNA by polymerase chain reactions and plasma for antibodies using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. To assess the accuracy of these methods, we compared the antibody and swab results to those of the tracheal tissues.