Large-scale exposure of southern seabirds to avian cholera Pasteurella multocida: scavengers as sentinels at different spatial scales
- 1CEFE, CNRS, Université Montpellier, EPHE, IRD, Montpellier, France
Abstract
Seabird communities represent spatially structured social networks within which potential sentinels could inform us where multi-host pathogens could be present. Pasteurella multocida, the agent of avian cholera, is responsible for recurrent massive seabird mortality events on remote Amsterdam Island, Southern Indian Ocean, but little is known about its broad spatial occurrence. To explore its distribution and whether avian scavengers and predators could be used as sentinels, we screened 18 southern seabird species from 11 islands for antibodies against P. multocida (2634 plasma samples). We detected widespread but heterogeneous exposure among host populations. High seroprevalences were found in widely roaming predators and scavengers (giant petrels (Macronectes spp), and brown skua (Stercorarius antarcticus)), which could represent efficient sentinels at broad scales. Antibodies were also detected over a series of years in a non-migratory scavenger, the lesser sheathbill (Chionis minor) and an abundant penguin species, the king penguin (Aptenodytes patagonicus), suggesting that the bacterium was circulating locally at some sites. This broad scale serological screening of whole seabird host communities provides critical information to assess disease emergence risks in the context of global change.
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BibTeX
@misc{tornos2026largescale,
title = {{Large-scale exposure of southern seabirds to avian cholera Pasteurella multocida: scavengers as sentinels at different spatial scales}},
author = {J. Tornos and A. gamble and A. Clessin and T. Bralet and M. Lejeune and M. Connan and P. G. Ryan and H. Weimerskirch and J. Gonzalez-Solis and P. Catry and C. Barbraud and K. C. Delord and V. A. Viblanc and A. Flechet and J. Baron and F. Caza and A. Tounsi and S. Ferchiou and S. Perret and C.-A. Bost and A. Steinfurth and R. Le Net and J.-B. Thiebot and F. Le Bouard and C. Lesage and Y. St-Pierre and H. Gantelet and T. Boulinier},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.64898/2026.10.12.758445},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.12.758445v1},
note = {CC BY-ND},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Large-scale exposure of southern seabirds to avian cholera Pasteurella multocida: scavengers as sentinels at different spatial scales
AU - J. Tornos
AU - A. gamble
AU - A. Clessin
AU - T. Bralet
AU - M. Lejeune
AU - M. Connan
AU - P. G. Ryan
AU - H. Weimerskirch
AU - J. Gonzalez-Solis
AU - P. Catry
AU - C. Barbraud
AU - K. C. Delord
AU - V. A. Viblanc
AU - A. Flechet
AU - J. Baron
AU - F. Caza
AU - A. Tounsi
AU - S. Ferchiou
AU - S. Perret
AU - C.-A. Bost
AU - A. Steinfurth
AU - R. Le Net
AU - J.-B. Thiebot
AU - F. Le Bouard
AU - C. Lesage
AU - Y. St-Pierre
AU - H. Gantelet
AU - T. Boulinier
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/12
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.10.12.758445
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.12.758445v1
AB - Seabird communities represent spatially structured social networks within which potential sentinels could inform us where multi-host pathogens could be present. Pasteurella multocida, the agent of avian cholera, is responsible for recurrent massive seabird mortality events on remote Amsterdam Island, Southern Indian Ocean, but little is known about its broad spatial occurrence. To explore its distribution and whether avian scavengers and predators could be used as sentinels, we screened 18 southern seabird species from 11 islands for antibodies against P. multocida (2634 plasma samples). We detected widespread but heterogeneous exposure among host populations. High seroprevalences were found in widely roaming predators and scavengers (giant petrels (Macronectes spp), and brown skua (Stercorarius antarcticus)), which could represent efficient sentinels at broad scales. Antibodies were also detected over a series of years in a non-migratory scavenger, the lesser sheathbill (Chionis minor) and an abundant penguin species, the king penguin (Aptenodytes patagonicus), suggesting that the bacterium was circulating locally at some sites. This broad scale serological screening of whole seabird host communities provides critical information to assess disease emergence risks in the context of global change.
ER -