Ecology of whirling disease in arid lands with an emphasis on Tibufex tubifex

Abstract

The novel pathogen hypothesis describes host parasite relationships where a pathogen spreads into new geographical areas or into areas of previously unexposed "virgin" hosts. Often, measures of parasite virulence and host resistance are elucidated through pathogenic impacts on the "virgin" hosts. The myxosporean Myxobolus cerebralis, the causative agent of whirling disease in salmonid fish, qualifies as a novel pathogen with its recent introduction into North America from Europe in the 1950s. This introduction of a novel pathogen provides opportunity for insight into the etiology of host-parasite life cycles, parasite virulence, and host resistance.

Citation

Du Bey, Robert James. 2006. Ecology of whirling disease in arid lands with an emphasis on Tibufex tubifex. Las Cruces, NM: New Mexico State University. 101 p. Thesis.