Author(s): DENNIS A. LAPOINTE, CARTER T. ATKINSON AND SUSAN I. JARVI
Publication: Applying Research to Management
Publication Date: 2009
Abstract: The extinction and decline of Hawaiian avi- fauna due to introduced mosquito-borne disease has become a classic example of the impact of introduced diseases on naive wildlife populations (Warner 1968; this volume, Chc’lPter9). Along with rinderpest virus and rabies virus, avian malaria (Plas- modiumrelictum)and avian pox virus (Avipox- virus sp.) stood for decades as rare cases of invasive pathogens in wildlife species
(Guliand 1995). Today, however, with ever- increasing globalization, emergent and in- vasive human and wildlife diseases are on the rise (Daszak et al. 2000, Gubler 2001, Friend et al. 2004). Once an academic curiosity to conservation biologists out- side of Hawaii, avian malaria and pox and their impact on Hawaii’s native forest birds now have continental relevance with West Nile virus’s sweep across North Amer- ica and its potential threat to endangered species populations (Marra et al. 2004, Kilpatrick et al. 2007).
