Trust funding helps trace bird disease

Important new findings into the spread of a deadly garden bird disease across Europe were made possible in part thanks to funding from the RCVS Charitable Trust.

Research into Trichomonosis in British finches, part-funded by a £5,000 grant made to Dr Becki Lawson, a wildlife vet working at the Zoological Society of London, has provided crucial support in new research that suggests chaffinches migrating from British shores to Fennoscandia transported with them the parasite responsible for causing the disease.

A further £1000 travel grant also helped by enabling Becki to present her findings at the Conference of the European Wildlife Disease Association in September 2010 in Vlieland, Netherlands, and the 2010 British Zoological Society (BVZS) Meeting in Dudley.

“Understanding emerging infectious diseases and how they’re spread is essential if we’re going to protect people and wildlife in the future,” says Becki, who hopes that her work will mean better advice can be given and action taken to halt the spread of the parasite.  She thanked the Trust for their support.

“We are proud to have made our contribution to such a major piece of research,” said Trust Director, Cherry Bushell.

“We don’t have the funds to finance big studies, but all findings need to be disseminated to generate action – and this is where we focus our efforts. We hope this will lead to further research.”

More information about the Trust-funded research was published in RCVS News (June 2009, page 23).

More information about the findings of the latest research can be found on the Zoological Society of London website.

(Photo courtesy of Jill Pakenham, BTO)