Accepted: 19/02/2015 Abstract Aspergillosis is an infectious, non-contagious fungal disease of wild and domestic birds caused by fungus Aspergillus species. It is characterized by primary involvement of respiratory tract, formation of yellow cheesy plaques and hard nodular masses in the lungs and air sacs, though other organs may also be generally involved. This fungal disease is of economic im...

The relative size of olfactory bulbs (OBs) is correlated with olfactory capabilities across vertebrates and is widely used to assess the relative importance of olfaction to a species' ecology. In birds, variations in the relative size of OBs are correlated with some behaviors; however, the factors that have led to the high level of diversity seen in OB sizes across birds are still not well unde...

Although wild birds are the recognized source and reservoir for all subtypes of avian influenza viruses (AIV), the complex interaction among these diverse host and virus populations has not received adequate attention. A general concept of AIV epidemiology in wild birds exists; however, the presence of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 viruses in wild birds has reinforced the need f...

UNLABELLED Skeletal muscle, at 30 to 40% of body mass, is the most abundant soft tissue in the body. Besides its primary function in movement and posture, skeletal muscle is a significant innate immune organ with the capacity to produce cytokines and chemokines and respond to proinflammatory cytokines. Little is known about the role of skeletal muscle during systemic influenza A virus infection...

The development of modern medicine has allowed us to conquer numerous infectious diseases; however, we human beings constantly face threats from novel infectious diseases that have been previously unrecognized. These so-called “emerging infectious diseases” are often caused by zoonotic pathogens, which mostly originate in wild animals (1, 2). Human diseases, such as AIDS, severe acute respirato...

Why do some avian families contain so many more species than other families? We use comparisons between sister taxa to test predictions arising from six explanations to this puzzle: that di¡erences between families are due to chance, body size, life history, sexual selection, intrinsic ecological factors or extrinsic abiotic factors, respectively. In agreement with previous analyses, we ¢nd no ...