Deformed Wing Virus (DWV) Pandemic Manmade

Varroa-vectored virus pandemic threatens world’s pollinators  —study

World’s honeybees are undergoing population collapses that are caused by multiple threats, especially the deformed wing virus (DWV), according to a new study.

Deformed wing virus (DWV) and its vector, the mite Varroa destructor, posed a major threat to the world’s honeybee populations. And researchers have found that European honeybees are the primary source of the virus.

“European honeybees acquired the rapidly spreading Varroa mite from Asian honey bees, possibly via the commercial exchange of queens,” says the study.

Analysis shows that DWV has since spread globally in honeybees from the European honeybee.

The European honeybee Apis mellifera is an important domesticated animal that is used worldwide for commercial pollination of intensive and high-value crops, such as nuts and fruit, as well as for honey production.

DWV destroys both managed A. mellifera populations and wild populations and has been “identified as an emerging disease in wild pollinators, with dramatic impacts on survival in bumblebees.”

DWV exhibits epidemic growth and transmission that is predominantly mediated by European and North American honeybee populations and driven by trade and movement of honeybee colonies. DWV is now an important reemerging pathogen of honeybees, which are undergoing a worldwide manmade epidemic fueled by the direct transmission route that the Varroa mite provides.

DWV poses a threat to all pollinators.”Wild pollinators, such as bumblebees and solitary bees, have experienced a loss of species richness and diversity during recent decades, which can be attributed partly to infectious diseases.”

The study conclude that there is a “global pandemic of DWV, with transmission mediated by European populations of A. mellifera,” and that the virus transmission is being “amplified by human-mediated movement of honeybees or other infected material,” which are “fueled by the concurrent emergence of V. destructor mites.”

“Pollinator populations are interconnected via trade and movement of managed pollinators, which offers the potential for rapid spread of pathogens and parasites around the globe and between species.”

Full text of the report is posted HERE.

Related Links

• Systemic Pesticides Harming Honeybees, Fish, Birds… June 25, 2014
• Birds, Bees, Neonicotinoids and Deadly Disease April 10, 2013
• Bountiful Bees Committed to Extinction March 11, 2011
• Honeybee Shortage Threatens Crop Pollination across Europe January 9, 2014
• The Silent Summer in Fukushima August 17, 2011
• 2011 Disaster Calendar – August August 1, 2011
• All is NOT Well at Chernobyl March 18, 2009
• EU needs more pesticides, scientists claim April 24, 2008