Plos One Oxyspirura data manuscript.xls

Oxyspirura petrowi
is a parasitic nematode that infects wild birds. This parasite has a broad host
range, but has recently been reported in high prevalences from native
Galliformes species in the United States. In order to better understand the
impact O. petrowi has on wild bird
populations, we developed a quantitative PCR protocol to detect infections in
wild northern bobwhites (Colinus
virginianus). We used paired fecal and cloacal swab samples from wild
caught and experimentally infected northern bobwhites and matching fecal float
data from experimentally infected birds to validate our assay. Overall we
detected more positive birds from fecal samples than the paired cloacal swabs
and there was strong agreement between the qPCR results from fecal samples and
from fecal flotation (84%; κ=0.69 [0.53-0.84 95% CI]). We also detected O. petrowi DNA in ten replicates of
samples spiked with one O. petrowi egg.
This qPCR assay is an effective assay to detect O. petrowi infections in wild birds. Our results suggest that fecal
samples are the most appropriate sample for detecting infections; although,
cloacal swabs can be useful for determining if O. petrowi is circulating in a population.