Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41006604›Full record

ArticleScientific reports2025

Climate and landscape drivers of a mosquito-borne pathogen in an iconic game bird in the eastern and upper midwestern USA.

Melanie R Kunkel, James A Martin, Daniel G Mead, Lisa Williams, Roy D Berghaus, Julie Melotti, Nancy Businga, Christopher D Pollentier, Charlotte Roy, Michelle Carstensen and 14 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Scientific reports, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

24 authors.

Melanie R KunkelSoutheastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602, USA. mrk266@cornell.edu.
James A MartinWarnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources and Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602, USA.
Daniel G MeadSoutheastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602, USA.
Lisa WilliamsBureau of Wildlife Management, Pennsylvania Game Commission, Harrisburg, PA, 17110, USA.
Roy D BerghausDepartment of Population Health, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602, USA.
Julie MelottiWildlife Health Section, Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Lansing, MI, USA.
Nancy BusingaBureau of Wildlife Management, Wildlife Health Section, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Madison, WI, 53716, USA.
Christopher D PollentierOffice of Applied Science, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Madison, WI, 53716, USA.
Charlotte RoyForest Wildlife Populations and Research Group, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Grand Rapids, MN, 55744, USA.
Michelle CarstensenWildlife Health Program, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Forest Lake, MN, 55025, USA.
Michael SchiavoneDivision of Fish and Wildlife, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Albany, NY, 12233, USA.
Kelsey M SullivanMaine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, Bangor, ME, 04401, USA.
Katie MartinVirginia Department of Wildlife Resources, Farmville, VA, 23901, USA.
Karen BordeauNew Hampshire Fish and Game Department, New Hampton, NH, 03256, USA.
Linda OrdiwayElkins Operation Center, West Virginia Division of Natural Resources, Elkins, WV, 26421, USA.
Michael L PetersDistrict 1 Office, West Virginia Division of Natural Resources, Farmington, WV, 26571, USA.
Joe FullerWildlife Management Division, North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, Raleigh, NC, 27699, USA.
Chris BernierWildlife Division, Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife, Springfield, VT, 05156, USA.
David ScarpittiMassachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, Westborough, MA, 01581, USA.
Zak DanksKentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, Frankfort, KY, 40601, USA.
Bob LongWildlife and Heritage Service, Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Cambridge, MD, 21613, USA.
Kayla G AdcockSoutheastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602, USA.
Mark G RuderSoutheastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602, USA.
Nicole M NemethSoutheastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602, USA. nmnemeth@uga.edu.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus) is a non-migratory upland game bird that inhabits young and mature forests in the USA and Canada. Population indices in some portions of its range, particularly the eastern USA, have been in decline since the arrival of West Nile virus (WNV), a mosquito-borne Flavivirus. Subsequent experimental research suggested that WNV may cause morbidity and/or mortality in up to 90% of grouse, which had similar clinicopathologic findings to naturally-infected grouse. Additionally, WNV serosurveys in Pennsylvania revealed low seroprevalence concurrent with elevated vector indices. To further elucidate aspects of WNV epidemiology in ruffed grouse, we tested hunter-collected filter paper strips for anti-WNV antibodies in 15 states during fall-winter, 2018-2022. Annual total seroprevalence ranged from 12.0% in 2019-2020 to 17.9% in 2021-2022. We assessed for associations between county-level WNV seroprevalence and large-scale climate, environmental, and landscape variables through Bayesian multilevel modeling, accounting for spatial autocorrelation. The top model suggested that WNV seroprevalence was positively correlated with summer precipitation; the second most supported model suggested similar findings of positive correlation between WNV seroprevalence and spring precipitation. Management strategies should prioritize understanding factors that influence mosquito-borne pathogen transmission in conjunction with providing more forested habitat of high quality for ruffed grouse to optimize survival in the face of WNV and other challenges.

Indexed as

Bird DiseasesClimateCulicidaeGalliformesWest Nile FeverWest Nile virusAnimalsAntibodies, ViralBayes TheoremMidwestern United StatesMosquito VectorsSeroepidemiologic StudiesAntibodies, ViralArbovirusAvianGalliformesGrouseWest nile virusWildlife disease

Identifiers

PMID41006604
PMCPMC12475392

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.