Bird species potentially involved in introduction, amplification, and spread of West Nile virus in a Mediterranean wetland, the Camargue (Southern France)

Abstract

West Nile virus (WNV) is a mosquito-transmitted Flavivirus with a transmission cycle involving birds as amplifying hosts. Wild birds are also believed to carry WNV over large distances and are able to introduce it into new areas during migration and dispersal. In this paper, our objective is to provide lists of birds potentially involved in the introduction, the amplification and the spread of WNV in the Camargue, a Mediterranean wetland in the south of France where several WNV outbreaks have occurred since the 1960s. Bird species were classified according to the following ecological factors: migratory status and provenance area, used biotopes, abundance and period of presence in the Camargue. The obtained lists of bird species potentially involved in the introduction, amplification and spread of WNV should prove useful to determine target species on which further studies on WNV ecology in birds could be focused.