Anticuerpos circulantes contra Influenza Aviar y Newcastle en zanates (Quiscalus mexicanus) de la ciudad de Guatemala

Despite the Great-tailed Grackle (Quiscalus mexicanus) is distributed in all Guatemala and it is so close to human populations, few is known about its sanitarian status and role as reservoir of important avian diseases. This research provides information about the role of the Greattailed Grackle in the epizootiology of Avian Influenza (AI; Orthomyxoviridae) and Newcastle Disease (NCD; Paramixoviridae), measuring the antibodies of Grackles non-related to avian farms. We collected 71 serum samples from urban Great-tailed rackles without any symptoms in Guatemala City from April to June of 2008, and analyzed with hemagglutination Inhibition Test. A prevalence of 0% for AI H5N2 and 88.73% to NCD was found, the last one higher to the reported in other studies. The sample origin, season, tail length, weight and sex had no association or effect on the presence or title of NCD antibodies, which could mean that the virus presence does not affect the biological fitness. Perhaps the urban Grackle populations have not been exposed to the AI subtype reported for Guatemala; Grackles could be a potential dispersion or the NCD virus due to its rural and urban distribution, behavior that give these birds an important exposition to AI virus. Due to the high NCD antibodies prevalence, other avian virus could be suspected to be carried by this species.