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Novel insights into the dynamics of green turtle fibropapillomatosis



Details

  • Journal Title:
    Marine Ecology Progress Series
  • Personal Author:
  • NOAA Program & Office:
    NMFS (National Marine Fisheries Service)
  • Description:
    Outbreaks of fibropapillomatosis (FP), a neoplastic infectious disease of marine turtles, have occurred worldwide since the 1980s. Its most likely aetiological agent is a virus, but disease expression depends on external factors, typically associated with altered environments. The scarcity of robust long-term data on disease prevalence has limited interpretations on the impacts of FP on turtle populations. Here we model the dynamics of FP at 2 green turtle foraging aggregations in Puerto Rico, through 18 yr of capture-mark-recapture data (1997-2014). We observed spatiotemporal variation in FP prevalence, potentially modulated via individual site-fidelity. FP expression was residency dependent, and FP-free individuals developed tumours after 1.8 ± 0.8 yr (mean ± SD) in the infected area. Recovery from the disease was likely, with complete tumour regression occurring in 2.7 ± 0.7 yr (mean ± SD). FP does not currently seem to be a major threat to marine turtle populations; however, disease prevalence is yet unknown in many areas. Systematic monitoring is highly advisable as human-induced stressors can lead to deviations in host-pathogen relationships and disease virulence. Finally, data collection should be standardized for a global assessment of FP dynamics and impacts.
  • Source:
    Marine Ecology Progress Series, 547, 247-255
  • DOI:
  • ISSN:
    0171-8630 ; 1616-1599
  • Format:
    PDF
  • Publisher:
    Inter-Research Science Center
  • Document Type:
    Journal Article
  • Funding:
    Grant no. NA08NMF4720436
  • Rights Information:
    Other
  • Compliance:
    Library
  • Main Document Checksum:
    urn:sha-512:de91b32c429de20b0def8c39ba553473c05a08bf432d4d5e3d7683a140b027f251fa8e2a11dde1c27f323fc585ad715e72e2a3ffc6292f999a089950b2ed21c0
  • Download URL:
  • File Type:
    Filetype[PDF - 880.51 KB ]
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