Pathogen: Israel Acute Paralysis Virus, Family: Dicistroviridae, Genus: Aparavirus
Category of Pathogen: Virus
Name of Disease cause by Pathogen: Colony Collapse Disorder
Symptoms of infection:
1) Disorientation, paralysis, collapsed colonies.
2) In cases where the colony appear to be actively collapsing
a. An insufficient workforce to maintain the brood that is present
b. The workforce seems to be made up of young adult bees
c. The queen is present
d. The cluster is reluctant to consume provided feed, such as sugar syrup and
protein supplement [2]
Primary host: Western Honeybee (Apis mellifera)
Other hosts: Not known. (Vector: Varroa destructor)
Route of transmission: Bee to bee transmission (oral secretions, food sharing, etc.), Varroa mites.
Ro: Definately greater than 1!
Prevalence: Over the winter of 2006 and 2007, an estimated 23% of all beekeeping operations in the United States experienced losses of hives attributed to colony collapse disorder [4]. European beekeepers observed similar phenomena in Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain.
Generation Time: Not known.
Mortality Rate: The United States has a significantly higher mortality rate than other cased documented internationally. In most cases, the disorder eliminates the bee’s ability to replace the dying generation, thus the colony collapses.
Morbitity Rate: Not known.
Is it preventable? How?: Quarantine/isolation of healthy bees seems to be the easiest method since not all factors attrtibutable to CCD are known. Some scientists have suggested introducing genetically modified bees who are resistant to IAPV to the bee populations.
Does the disease trigger long-lasting immunity: Not known. So far, evidence shows that all affected bees in a colony will disappear.
When was the pathogen first described and is there evidence that it was around much earlier than that?: IAPV was first described in 2004 in Israel. Virus was previously known to be a cause of honeybee death but only in the 21st century. [1]
What is the economic impact of the disease?: Obviously, plants that require honeybees as polinators will vanish causing a worldwide food shortage. Only edible plants that use wind-polination will be available. Currently the United States has to imort honeybess from Australia to maintain polination of our crops. Australia has no cases of colony collapse disorder or IAPV.
The coolest thing: The coolness factor coincides with the fear factor since in the next few years, the impact of the decline in bee populations around the world could be visible and everything after that would change! Hopefully genetic modification or vaccination can be possible in the near future.
Citations:
[1] Maori, E., S. Lavi, R. Mozes-Koch, Y. Gantman, Y. Peretz, O. Edelbaum, E. Tanne, and I. Sela. 2007. Isolation and characterization of Israeli acute paralysis virus, a dicistrovirus affecting honeybees in Israel: evidence for diversity due to intra- and inter-species recombination. J. Gen. Virol. 883428-3438.
[2] http://maarec.psu.edu/pressReleases/FallDwindleUpdate0107.pdf
[3] vanEngelsdorp D, Evans JD, Saegerman C, Mullin C, Haubruge E, et al. (2009) Colony Collapse Disorder: A Descriptive Study. PLoS ONE 4(8): e6481. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0006481
[4] vanEngelsdorp, D., R. Underwood, D. Caron, and J. Hayes Jr. 2007. An estimate of managed colony losses in the winter of 2006-2007: a report commissioned by the apiary inspectors of America. American Bee J. 147599-603.
