{"id":54988,"date":"2025-05-18T13:51:35","date_gmt":"2025-05-18T13:51:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/mosquito-borne-killer-disease-threatens-blackbirds\/"},"modified":"2025-05-18T13:51:36","modified_gmt":"2025-05-18T13:51:36","slug":"mosquito-borne-killer-disease-threatens-blackbirds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/mosquito-borne-killer-disease-threatens-blackbirds\/","title":{"rendered":"Mosquito-borne killer disease threatens blackbirds"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Helen Briggs<\/span><\/p>\n
BBC environment correspondent\u2022<\/span>@hbriggs<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Gwyndaf Hughes<\/span><\/p>\n

BBC climate and science team<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"GettyGetty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The blackbird is one of the UK’s most common and familiar birds, known for its cheerful song<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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A mosquito-borne disease freshly arrived in Britain has spread large distances, with scientists racing to understand the risks to wild birds.<\/p>\n

Infected insects can spread the deadly Usutu virus to blackbirds, raising fears for the famous songsters.<\/p>\n

New data shows Usutu has spread across much of southern England in five years, and has been linked to declines in some blackbird populations.<\/p>\n

Scientists are monitoring its spread amid warnings that mosquitoes and the diseases they carry may expand their range under climate change.<\/p>\n

“We’ve seen that the virus has spread further than we thought it might do, and it’s persisted,” Dr Arran Folly of the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) told the BBC.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"GettyGetty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Culex pipiens, the common house mosquito, has been found to carry and transmit the Usutu virus<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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Scientists at the APHA in Weybridge, Surrey, have been tracking mosquito-borne diseases in wild birds for decades, amid warnings<\/a> that climate change is turning Europe into a potential breeding ground for the insects.<\/p>\n

Longer summers, hotter temperatures and heavy rainfall are creating conditions for the nuisance insects to move into areas that were previously inhospitable to them.<\/p>\n

Until 2020, all results came back clear. Then, after the summer heatwave of that year, Usutu was detected in several blackbirds in Greater London. <\/p>\n

“Blackbirds specifically are quite susceptible to the virus and since 2020 we’ve found a decline in blackbirds of approximately 40% in Greater London,” said Dr Folly.<\/p>\n

“It gives an indication that in the future we might get other viruses that are transmitted by mosquitoes emerging in the UK.”<\/p>\n

Diseases such as Usutu are a growing threat to wild birds, amid a host of other pressures, including habitat loss, climate change and pesticide use.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

What is Usutu?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
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  • Usutu virus was first detected more than half a century ago around southern Africa’s Usutu River<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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    • It has since spread around the world, reaching Europe three decades ago, and was picked up for the first time in the UK in 2020<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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      • Blackbirds are particularly susceptible to the virus, which can also infect horses and, from time to time, humans.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
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        The latest data shows that Usutu has spread further than the scientists expected.<\/p>\n

        It has now been detected in wild birds across much of southern England, at least as far west as Dorset and as far north as Cambridgeshire.<\/p>\n

        How big a risk Usutu poses to wild birds is uncertain. The virus has been linked to mass die-offs of blackbirds elsewhere in Europe, though that doesn’t seem to be the case in Britain.<\/p>\n

        And the blackbird remains one of the commonest garden birds with numbers holding steady in many parts of the country, especially in rural areas, and in the north.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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        \"GettyGetty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

        In May, blackbirds are nesting and rearing young, with fledglings eventually leaving the nest<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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        To untangle the puzzle \u2013 and gather more data on blackbird numbers \u2013 the scientists have joined forces with the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO).<\/p>\n

        They are calling for volunteers to count blackbirds in their gardens over the summer months to find out more about the comings and goings of the birds.<\/p>\n

        Around now blackbirds are breeding and raising their young, frequently seen hopping along the ground and singing from the branches of trees on summer evenings.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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        \"GwyndafGwyndaf Hughes\/BBC<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

        Lucy Love in her garden within metres of the sea near Selsey, Sussex<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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        Lucy Love, a garden birdwatch ambassador for the BTO, knows the blackbirds in her gardens by sight and has grown fond of them.<\/p>\n

        “They’re beautiful birds \u2013 intelligent, friendly and they have the most beautiful song with a lovely melodic tone to it,” she explained.<\/p>\n

        “And we cannot lose them \u2013 they’re a vital part of our ecosystem.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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        \"Thin,<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n