Haemoproteosis and avian malaria in Columbidae and Corvidae from Iran

Nourani, Leila; Baghkheirati, Amir Asghari; Zargar, Mostafa; Karimi, Vahid; Djadid, Navid Dinparast

doi:10.1002/vms3.549

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…Hemosporidia are also common parasites infecting pigeons, namely protozoa in the genera Haemoproteus, Leucocytzoon and Plasmodium. Haemoproteus columbae, transmitted by hippoboscid 'louse' ies, which causes "pseudo malaria" is the most common hemoparasite isolated from pigeons [5,6]. Prevalence of pseudo malaria in pigeon populations is variable from 27.6% to 100% and may be lethal to young pigeons [7][8][9].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Avian malaria in a feral-pet pigeon: a case report

Muchaamba,

Venugopal,

Gaechter

et al. 2024

Preprint

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Background Avian malaria is caused by diverse parasite species of the genus Plasmodium, and it affects various bird species. The occurrence of this disease in wild birds is understudied due to the scarce availability of samples. Hence the pathogenicity in these hosts is not completely known. In addition, feral birds may act as reservoirs bridging the transmission cycle from wild migratory birds to domestic and zoo-kept bird species. We report here the occurrence of P. relictum in a feral pigeon. Case presentation: The bird died unexpectedly, and necropsy revealed an anaemic carcass, with pale organs and hydropericardium. Histopathologic analysis revealed inflammatory infiltrates in lung and liver, and monocytes and Kupffer cells contained hemozoin pigment indicative of phagocytosis of Plasmodium infected erythrocytes. A high erythrocytic infection rate of 18% was evident in tissues and blood vessels in various organs. Furthermore, the thyroid had masses classified as thyroid carcinomas. Immunohistochemistry with anti-P. falciparum HSP70 antibody revealed positive signals in erythrocytes and intravascular leucocytes. Further analysis using Giemsa-stained blood smears revealed a high parasitaemia with an asynchronous infection showing all erythrocytic stages. Molecular diagnosis by PCR identified P. relictum, lineage GRW11 as the etiological agent. The bird presented died most likely due to an acute infection as evidenced by the high blood parasitaemia, leading to major erythrocyte destruction. Further analyses of feral pigeons (n = 22) did not reveal any additional cases with Plasmodium infections. Conclusion While our study suggests that Plasmodium infections are rare in pigeons, host conditions like immunosuppression may have influenced the infection outcome in this fatal case due to the tumour.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Avian malaria in a feral-pet pigeon: a case report

Muchaamba,

Venugopal,

Gaechter

et al. 2024

Preprint

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Haemoproteosis and avian malaria in Columbidae and Corvidae from Iran

Nourani

Baghkheirati

Zargar

et al. 2021

Veterinary Medicine & Sci

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Avian malaria (Plasmodium) and related genera (Haemoproteus and Leucocytozoon) are diverse and widespread parasites. Despite the extent of knowledge on avian haemosporidian parasites, information about domestic and wild bird's blood parasites is overall insufficient in Iran. Prevalence of the haemosporidian parasites’ and phylogenetic relationship of lineages are studied by using molecular and morphological results of 152 examined hosts belonging to 17 species. Molecular analysis for haemosporidian detections demonstrated overall prevalence 22.36%. Inspected hosts mostly belonging to Common Pigeons (Columba livia) parasitized by Haemoproteus spp., and Hooded Crows (Corvus cornix) and Carrion Crow (C. corone) were identified as hosting Plasmodium spp. Detected lineages COLIV03, COQUI05, LINN01, ROFI04 and SGS01 are identified as new reports from Iran. We detected no evidence of Leucocytozoon lineages, while the high prevalence of H. columbae was found in Common Pigeons. Such investigation on avian blood parasites contributes to providing new information on the prevalence, epidemiology and geographical distribution of haemosporidian parasites circulating in domestic, pets and wild birds.

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