PELICAN DIE-OFF â€" PERU (02): PARASITES AND MALNUTRITION
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Date: Fri, 4 May 2012
Source: Peru.com [in Spanish, transl.; edited] <http://peru.com/2012/05/04/actualidad/nacionales/pelicanos-libertad-murieron-desnutricion-y-parasitosis-noticia-62307>
Pelicans from La Libertad died from malnutrition and parasitosis
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The lack of the Peruvian anchoveta (_Engraulis ringens_) [a fish of the anchovy family] and severe parasitism caused the death of hundreds of pelicans along the coast of La Libertad, according to an investigation carried out by specialists from Universidad Nacional de Trujillo (UNT).
Carlos Bocanegra, from the Fishing Biology Department of UNT, said that the persistence of summer warm temperatures is forcing the anchoveta, main pray for pelicans, to move south.
"We have found food items not frequently eaten by pelicans, such as catfish, shore fish, in theirs stomachs which indicates that given the lack of usual food, they have predated on what they could find", he said.
Another result of their study showed that the birds had an ascarid worm, a common pelican parasite, that contributed to the deterioration of their defenses.
Bocanegra said that the ascarid worm, which can measure up to 20 â€" 30 cm, causes anaemia, malnutrition and even death.
He warned that the main public health concern for people living nearby might be getting these worms, by eating the pelican meat or by getting in contact with the dead birds.
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[The ascarid worm the text might be referring to might be _Contracaecum_ sp., which is in the Order Ascaridida but it’s actually an anisakid, and may cause anisakiasis in humans. It is likely that other members of the pelican parasite community were at high intensities in these starved pelicans, since a deterioration in the condition of the birds might trigger a vicious circle, as host susceptibility and disease can act in synergy. Individuals in poor general physiological condition might be more susceptible to infections, which further weaken their condition, and so on.
Populations in poor average condition might exhibit higher prevalence of infection, increasing the risk of further infections, with further deterioration in condition. This escalating polarisation between the sick and the robust could have important implications for the dynamics of disease and its impact on host dynamics (see <http://www.cell.com/trends/ecology-evolution/abstract/S0169-5347(09)00228-6>).
It would be interesting (though very difficult) to investigate whether this lack of anchovetas and starvation of pelicans is related to the dolphin die-off that happened there concomitantly. The interactive HealthMap/ProMED map of the affected area is available at:
<http://healthmap.org/r/1XWY>. - Mod.PMB]
[see also:
Pelican die-off - Peru: RFI 20120502.1120839 Dolphin die-off â€" Peru: morbillivirus susp. 20120422.1110060 Die-off, seal, dolphin - USA: New England, update 20120209.1037523
2011
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Undiagnosed dolphin die-off - USA: (MS, AL) 20111202.3510 2010
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Dolphin die-off - USA: (southern coast) 20100609.1929
2009
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Cetacean morbillivirus, dolphins - Black Sea: susp, RFI 20090831.3066 Dolphin mortality - India 20090401.1250
2008
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Dolphin die-off - USA: (TX) 20080305.0913
2004
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Pelican die-off- USA (Louisiana):RFI 20040110.0112] .................................................sb/pmb/lm/ll
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