From Voice of America (and many others) comes this pointer to a new study about West Nile virus (Flavivirus) about to be published in the journal Nature. Researchers used data from the North American Breeding Bird Survey to examine populations of 20 different bird species in the USA, and found that seven of them, including American crows (Corvus brachyrhyncho), Eastern bluebirds (Sialia sialis) and house wrens (Troglodytes aedon), have experienced population declines strongly correlated to the appearance of West Nile virus eight years ago and its spread across the country.
For more information, you can check out this Nature podcast (mp3 file, transcript to be available soon) or, if you have access, the original research (supplementary figures and methods are free to everyone).
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