Livestock Drugs and Disease: The Fatal Combination behind Breeding Failure in Endangered Bearded Vultures

Blanco, Guillermo; Lemus, Jesús A.

Determination of bacterial and fungal pathogens were conducted by sampling oropharynx, lung, liver, kidney, spleen, and intestine with sterile swabs and cultured using standard microbiology protocols [10, 12, 27, 28] . Salmonella serotypes and phage types were determined in the Spanish Reference Laboratory (Laboratorio Central Veterinario, Algete, Madrid). For confirmation of the identification of the alpha hemolytic Streptococcus pneumoniae we used a specific identification test (Accuprobe, Salem, MA) based on the detection of specific ribosomal RNA sequences. Samples of lesions found in internal organs and tissues during necropsies were taken with sterile swabs and cultured using the same standard microbiology protocols. In addition, we determined the presence of selected avian pathogens, including bacterial, viral, fungal, and protozoan pathogens by means of PCR-based methods (see Table S1 for details). The presence of Chlamyophila psittaci and Mycoplasma sp. in blood was determined as described previously [29, 30] . The presence of poxvirus, the paramyxovirus causing Newcastle disease, the serotypes H5, H7 and H9 of avian influenza, falcon adenovirus, circovirus, herpesvirus, polyomavirus, reovirus and West Nile virus were determined following the PCR-based methods available in the literature [31] [32] [33] [34] [35] [36] [37] [38] [39] . We also searched for helminths and protozoans in the gastrointestinal tract by macroscopic and microscopic observations using standard protocols [40] .