Detecting local transmission of avian malaria and related haemosporidian parasites (Apicomlexa, Haemosporida) at a Special Protection Area of Natura 2000 network

Abstract

Avian haemosporidian parasites (Apicomplexa, Haemosporida) are widespread pathogens that cause malaria (Plasmodium spp.) and other haemosporidioses (Haemoproteus spp. and Leucocytozoon spp.) in birds. The Special Protection Area Durankulak Lake (SPA DL) is a coastal lake in northeast Bulgaria, part of the Natura 2000 network that was declared as important area for wintering, breeding and migratory birds. Despite a number of conservation efforts outlined for the SPAs of Natura 2000 network, the potential threats and influences of haemosporidians and other parasites on occurring birds were not considered. In the present study, we aim to investigate the richness of haemosporidian parasites in birds captured in the protected area and to report the parasite species/DNA lineages that undergo local transmission in the region. We used both microscopic examination and PCR-based methods to diagnose haemosporidian infections in juvenile (captured in the year of hatching) and adult birds. The overall prevalence of haemosporidian parasites was significantly higher in the adult birds compared to juveniles. We identified five out of 21 recorded cytochrome b (cyt b) parasite lineages that are locally transmitted in the SPA DL (one of the genus Haemoproteus Kruse, 1890 and four of genus Plasmodium Marchiafava and Celli, 1885): cyt b lineages hRW2 of Haemoproteus belopolskyi, pSGS1 of Plasmodium relictum, pCOLL1, pYWT4 and pPADOM01 of Plasmodium (Haemamoeba) spp. It is likely that the majority of the parasites with local transmission are widespread host generalists and that host exchange is rather frequent among the birds inhabiting SPA DL.

Correlates of blood parasitism in a threatened marshland passerine: infection by kinetoplastids of the genus Trypanosoma is related to landscape metrics of habitat edge

“…The prevalence of blood parasites in the Aquatic Warbler in our study is difficult to compare with that of other birds due to high variation in prevalence attributable to location, habitat, year, age or sample size. Overall, considering studies carried out during the breeding season that inspected more than 20 individuals, Plasmodium prevalence in the Aquatic Warbler appears to be higher than in at least four out of seven other Acrocephalus species breeding in Europe, and is the closest to that found in the Great Reed Warbler ( A. arundinaceus ), 24–27% (Bensch et al ., 2000, 2007; Zehtindjiev et al ., 2008, 2009; Dimitrov et al ., 2010, 2018; Biedrzycka et al ., 2015). Although absent in Aquatic Warblers, also during migration and wintering (Neto et al ., 2015), Haemoproteus was detected in other acrocephalids breeding in Europe, with a high variation in prevalence within and across species.…”

A new blood parasite of leaf warblers: molecular characterization, phylogenetic relationships, description and identification of vectors

“…Thus, donor birds should be carefully selected for experimental vector research. Interestingly, mainly light parasitemia (< 1%) usually is present in wild-caught birds [ 16 , 19 , 58 , 73 , 74 ], and such infections are particularly important for transmission. This explains the biological meaning of persistence of haemosporidian parasites in birds at stage of low parasitemia from the viewpoint of parasite transmission.…”

Molecular survey on the occurrence of avian haemosporidia, Coxiella burnetii and Francisella tularensis in waterfowl from central Italy

“…Haemosporidians occur worldwide except in Antarctica (Beadell et al, 2009) and most infections are relatively benign, probably due to long-term host parasites evolutionary associations (Bennet et al, 1993). The occurrence of these protozoa has been reported from several birds’ species (Schmid et al, 2017; Dimitrov et al, 2018; Ferreira-Junior et al, 2018; Valkiunas et al, 2019; Schumm et al, 2019) and from dipteran species (Ionică et al, 2017; Žiegytė et al, 2017; Martin et al, 2019; Schoener et al, 2019).…”