Migration and disease

Because they are able to move long distances between otherwise disjunct habitats, migratory birds can play a substantial role as vectors in the transport of biological materials, including nutrients, seeds, contaminants, and diseases. Seabirds in particular have the capacity to bridge marine and terrestrial realms, reaching isolated and inhospitable habitats that even humans may find difficult to access. The capacity of seabirds to participate in the transmission of disease is particularly important for human well-being; in fact, during World War II, the military conducted large-scale seabird banding in the Pacific to explore the potential for seabirds to act as weapons of biological warfare. More recently, outbreaks of diseases such as highly pathogenic avian influenza have had enormous impacts on wild and captive birds as well as humans, with migratory birds acting as key vectors for spreading pathogens to novel environments.

As a Marie Curie fellow at the Center for Functional and Evolutionary Ecology (CEFE-CNRS) in Montpellier, France, my research focused on understanding dynamics of both active infections and immune response dynamics in migratory seabirds. Using scavenging seabirds as a model system (gulls in the Mediterranean, skuas in the Indian Ocean) I examined overall patterns of exposure to different pathogens, investigated the interplay of environmental and maternal factors in early-life immunity, assessed sources of individual variation in movement patterns and transmission potential, and evaluated the potential role of management actions in disease transmission dynamics.