The potential capacity of French wildlife rescue centres for wild bird disease surveillance

Abstract

Multiple schemes for wildlife disease surveillance have been in operation in France for decades and data on wild bird carcasses presented to the national SAGIR network have been recorded since the 1980s. Over the same period, wildlife rescue centres (WRCs) have admitted thousands of birds each year. However, the reasons for casualty submission have been poorly explored to date. To assess the potential capacity of WRCs to monitor infectious and non-infectious diseases of wild birds in addition to SAGIR, we used Fringillidae and Passeridae data from January 2004 to April 2013 from SAGIR and the WRC of Nantes (CVFSE/Oniris) which is in operation in North-West France. Firstly, the Centre Vétérinaire de la Faune Sauvage et des Ecosystèmes des Pays de la Loire (CVFSE) contributed more than 30 % of all the birds submitted and was complementary to the SAGIR network in terms of species, age of the birds collected, location and date found. Secondly, the CVFSE was able to detect the emergent finch trichomonosis, in addition to the SAGIR network. Some causes of passerine submission were detected by one or other of the two schemes leading to their complementarity in overviewing Fringillidae and Passeridae infectious and non-infectious diseases in France. In order to improve the efficiency of its wild bird disease monitoring and to participate in an effective national and/or European surveillance network, the CVFSE, as for other WRCs, must enhance its diagnostic capabilities, in particular post-mortem examinations and laboratory testing.