Migratory animals encounter multiple parasite communities, raising concerns that migration may aid transport of infectious disease. How migration affects disease spread depends fundamentally on how disease affects migration, specifically whether infection alters individuals' migratory physiology and behavior. We inoculated white-throated sparrows (Zonotrichia albicollis) with avian malaria parasites (Plasmodium sp.), monitored parasite loads for 5 wk as the birds reached spring migratory condition, and compared nocturnal migratory restlessness (Zugunruhe), body composition (fat, lean, and whole-body mass), and hematocrit among experimentally infected birds, sham-inoculated birds, and birds that were exposed to parasites but resisted infection. Migratory restlessness increased over time in the study, but the rate of change varied between sham (control) birds, infected birds, and birds that resisted infection. We were unable to detect any effects of malaria exposure on body condition. Our findings suggest that encountering parasites affects migratory activity, regardless of whether infection occurs or is resisted.

中文翻译：

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实验性疟疾感染影响鸣禽的夜间迁徙活动。

迁徙动物遇到多个寄生虫群落，引起人们的担忧，即迁移可能有助于传染病的传播。迁徙如何影响疾病的传播从根本上取决于疾病如何影响迁徙，特别是感染是否会改变个体的迁徙生理和行为。我们给白喉麻雀（Zonotrichia albicollis）接种了禽疟原虫（Plasmodium sp。），在鸟类达到春季迁徙条件时对其进行了5周的寄生虫监测，并比较了夜间迁徙不安（Zugunruhe），身体成分（脂肪，瘦肉，和全身质量），以及在实验感染的鸟类，假接种的鸟类以及暴露于寄生虫但抗感染的鸟类中的血细胞比容。随着时间的推移，迁徙性躁动增加，但是，假（对照）鸟，被感染的鸟和抗感染的鸟之间的变化率各不相同。我们无法检测到疟疾暴露对身体状况的任何影响。我们的发现表明，无论感染是发生还是抵抗，遇到寄生虫都会影响迁移活动。