Livestock drugs and disease: the fatal combination behind breeding failure in endangered bearded vultures.

There is increasing concern about the impact of veterinary drugs and livestock pathogens as factors damaging wildlife health, especially of threatened avian scavengers feeding upon medicated livestock carcasses. We conducted a comprehensive study of failed eggs and dead nestlings in bearded vultures...

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Main Authors: Guillermo Blanco, Jesús A Lemus
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2010-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC2994777?pdf=render
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author Guillermo Blanco
Jesús A Lemus
author_facet Guillermo Blanco
Jesús A Lemus
author_sort Guillermo Blanco
collection DOAJ
description There is increasing concern about the impact of veterinary drugs and livestock pathogens as factors damaging wildlife health, especially of threatened avian scavengers feeding upon medicated livestock carcasses. We conducted a comprehensive study of failed eggs and dead nestlings in bearded vultures (Gypaetus barbatus) to attempt to elucidate the proximate causes of breeding failure behind the recent decline in productivity in the Spanish Pyrenees. We found high concentrations of multiple veterinary drugs, primarily fluoroquinolones, in most failed eggs and nestlings, associated with multiple internal organ damage and livestock pathogens causing disease, especially septicaemia by swine pathogens and infectious bursal disease. The combined impact of drugs and disease as stochastic factors may result in potentially devastating effects exacerbating an already high risk of extinction and should be considered in current conservation programs for bearded vultures and other scavenger species, especially in regards to dangerous veterinary drugs and highly pathogenic poultry viruses.
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spelling doaj.art-d427c355d6cf403fb298dcb2b1d9ecdb2022-12-22T00:52:13ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032010-01-01511e1416310.1371/journal.pone.0014163Livestock drugs and disease: the fatal combination behind breeding failure in endangered bearded vultures.Guillermo BlancoJesús A LemusThere is increasing concern about the impact of veterinary drugs and livestock pathogens as factors damaging wildlife health, especially of threatened avian scavengers feeding upon medicated livestock carcasses. We conducted a comprehensive study of failed eggs and dead nestlings in bearded vultures (Gypaetus barbatus) to attempt to elucidate the proximate causes of breeding failure behind the recent decline in productivity in the Spanish Pyrenees. We found high concentrations of multiple veterinary drugs, primarily fluoroquinolones, in most failed eggs and nestlings, associated with multiple internal organ damage and livestock pathogens causing disease, especially septicaemia by swine pathogens and infectious bursal disease. The combined impact of drugs and disease as stochastic factors may result in potentially devastating effects exacerbating an already high risk of extinction and should be considered in current conservation programs for bearded vultures and other scavenger species, especially in regards to dangerous veterinary drugs and highly pathogenic poultry viruses.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC2994777?pdf=render
spellingShingle Guillermo Blanco
Jesús A Lemus
Livestock drugs and disease: the fatal combination behind breeding failure in endangered bearded vultures.
PLoS ONE
title Livestock drugs and disease: the fatal combination behind breeding failure in endangered bearded vultures.
title_full Livestock drugs and disease: the fatal combination behind breeding failure in endangered bearded vultures.
title_fullStr Livestock drugs and disease: the fatal combination behind breeding failure in endangered bearded vultures.
title_full_unstemmed Livestock drugs and disease: the fatal combination behind breeding failure in endangered bearded vultures.
title_short Livestock drugs and disease: the fatal combination behind breeding failure in endangered bearded vultures.
title_sort livestock drugs and disease the fatal combination behind breeding failure in endangered bearded vultures
url http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC2994777?pdf=render
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