Bridge hosts for avian influenza viruses at the wildlife/domestic interface: An eco-epidemiological framework implemented in southern Africa

• The role of wild birds in spreading AIVs locally to domestic poultry is not well known.
• An eco-epidemiological approach based on host functional roles in epidemiology is presented.
• This approach uses bird counts to prioritise bird species to target for AIV sampling.
• Bridge hosts linking the maintenance hosts of AIV and domestic compartments are identified.
• Two species representing 65% of all the contacts were found harboring AIVs.
• Their role as bridge host for AIVs is therefore confirmed in our ecosystem.
• This eco-epidemiological approach can guide disease surveillance and control.

Wild terrestrial birds can act as potential local spreaders or bridge hosts for avian influenza viruses (AIVs) between waterfowl (the maintenance hosts of AIVs) and domestic avian populations in which AIVs may cause disease. Few studies have investigated this hypothesis, although it is an important knowledge gap in our understanding of AIV spread within socio-ecosystems. We designed a simple and reproducible approach in an agro-ecosystem in Zimbabwe based on: (1) bird counts at key target sites (i.e., wetlands, villages, intensive poultry production buildings and ostrich farms) to identify which wild birds species co-occur in these different sites and seasons when the risk of AIV transmission through these potential bridge hosts is maximal and (2) targeted sampling and testing for AIV infection in the identified potential bridge hosts. We found that 12 wild bird species represented the vast majority (79%) of co-occurrences in the different sites, whereas 230 bird species were recorded in this ecosystem. Specifically, three species – barn swallow, Hirundo rustica, red-billed quelea, Quelea quelea and cattle egret, Bubulcus ibis – represented the main potential bridge host species (65% of co-occurrences). In two out of these three species (i.e., barn swallow and red-billed quelea), we detected AIV infections, confirming that they can play a bridge function between waterfowl and domestic species in the ecosystem. Our approach can be easily implemented in other ecosystems to identify potential bridge hosts, and our results have implications in terms of surveillance, risk management and control of AIV spread in socio-ecosystems.