Naturally Occurring Plasmodium and Haemoproteus Infection in the Common Pigeon

Becker, Elery R.; Hollander, W. F.; Pattillo, Walter H.

doi:10.2307/3274437

Cited by 12 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…Huff(l0) found experimentally that the pigeon and the duck could harbor the pre-erythrocytic forms of P. relictum, but of the two, only the pigeon occasionally developed a parasitemia. Naturally acquired parasitemias with P. relictum have also been reported on rare occasions in the common pigeon; Becker (1) found that, although 221 pigeons had negative blood films, he was able to demonstrate its presence in 3 of 39 pigeons whose blood was subinoculated into clean squabs. Huff et al(ll,12) found that the P. relictum isolated from pigeons in the United States had characteristics of P .…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Blood and Tissue Protozoa of the English Sparrow (Passer domesticus domesticus) in Galveston, Texas*

Box

1966

The Journal of Protozoology

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SYNOPSIS. The 42% incidence of Plasmodium in blood films of English sparrows reported here is the highest on record for surveys of blood parasites of birds in the United States. The only Plasmodium species identified in the sparrows was P. relictum. Adult birds were almost universally infected and tended to experience the highest degree of parasitemia in the spring months, while young birds had a higher blood positivity in the summer months. The lowest incidence of Plasmodium positive blood films occurred in fall and winter in the Galveston area. Overwintering birds had a decrease in parasitemia corresponding to reported minimal gonadal activity in sparrows. The 20% incidence of Lankesterella (avian Toxoplasma) in the blood of these sparrows was also higher than has been reported in other blood film surveys in this country. Incidence of this parasite in blood films was highest in the summer months, corresponding with highest average temperature for the year. Lankesterella could be found in 95% of sparrows whose tissues were examined after autopsy. Ducks and pigeons in the immediate vicinity of the survey sparrows had neither Plasmodium nor Lankesterella in blood films. Resident wild birds from adjacent rural areas, including redwinged blackbirds, boat‐tailed grackles, laughing gulls and meadowlarks, had fewer Plasmodium and Lankesterella than the sparrows. A few Lankesterella were found in the liver or spleen of young redwinged blackbirds, and only 2 of 79 wild birds had the organisms in their heart blood. Plasmodium was found only in meadowlarks and included P. hexamerium and elongatum as well as relictum.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Blood and Tissue Protozoa of the English Sparrow (Passer domesticus domesticus) in Galveston, Texas*

Box

1966

The Journal of Protozoology

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“…;Z proposed hypothesis indicates that (1) various species of mosquitoes have different susceptibilities. ( 2 ) various species of avian hosts are infectious to different degrees, and (3) that the probability of a mosquito of a given species being infected from a given species of parasite may be expressed by the decree of overlap between the normal curves oi susceptibility of the mosquito and infectiousness of the gametocytes in the pertinent avian host. The susceptibilities of pigeons to sporozoites of the two strains of parasites and of mosquitoes to gametocytes produced in pigeons are so low that it can bc questioned whether these strains could persist in nature without the presence of other avian hosts on the one hand possessing greater susceptibility than the pigeon to sporozoites and on the other hand contributing more to the infectiousness of the gametocytes than the pigeon does.…”

Section: History Of Strainsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Susceptibility and Resistance of Avian and Mosquito Hosts to Strains of Plasmodium relictum Isolated from Pigeons*

Huff

Marchbank

Shiroishi

1959

The Journal of Protozoology

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SYNOPSIS. Two strains (1B and 1P) of Plasmodium relictum isolated from pigeons could be easily passed serially in pigeons by transfer of infected blood. What appeared at first to be a qualitative difference between the infectiousness of gametocytes of strain 1P in pigeons and of gametocytes of the strain after being adapted to canaries (1P1) was found to be only a quantitative difference in their infectivity for mosquitoes. Earlier work had indicated that gametocytes of strain 1P were noninfectious for mosquitoes. The experiments reported here show that Culex tarsalis is highly susceptible to gametocytes of both strains 1B and1P and that Culex pipiens is slightly susceptible to gametocytes of strain 1P. The susceptibility of 72 pigeons (belonging to 24 varieties, plus mongrels and 3 species hybrids) to sporozoites of strain 1P1 was tested; only 5 transient infections lasting no more than two days and 3 subpatent infections were obtained. Similar results were obtained with sporozoites of strain 1B. The two strains are similar in both mosquito and avian hosts except that 1B is more highly infectious for C. pipiens and C. tarsalis than 1P. There is evidence that one or both of these strains may be Plasmodium relictum matutinum, Huff(7). A proposed hypothesis indicates that (1) various species of mosquitoes have different susceptibilities, (2) various species of avian hosts are infectious to different degrees, and (3) that the probability of a mosquito of a given species being infected from a given species of parasite may be expressed by the degree of overlap between the normal curves of susceptibility of the mosquito and infectiousness of the gametocytes in the pertinent avian host. The susceptibilities of pigeons to sporozoites of the two strains of parasites and of mosquitoes to gametocytes produced in pigeons are so low that it can be questioned whether these strains could persist in nature without the presence of other avian hosts on the one hand possessing greater susceptibility than the pigeon to sporozoites and on the other hand contributing more to the infectiousness of the gametocytes than the pigeon does.

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“…Leucocytozoonosis is understudied and seems to have a low prevalence in pigeons as well, according to a study from Italy which reported a prevalence of only 15.7% [10]. Rarely, mosquito-transmitted P. relictum infections have been reported in pigeons [11][12][13]. Concerningly, pigeons may act as reservoir hosts for other more vulnerable bird species.…”

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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Naturally Occurring Plasmodium and Haemoproteus Infection in the Common Pigeon

Cited by 12 publications

References 0 publications

Blood and Tissue Protozoa of the English Sparrow (Passer domesticus domesticus) in Galveston, Texas*

Blood and Tissue Protozoa of the English Sparrow (Passer domesticus domesticus) in Galveston, Texas*

Susceptibility and Resistance of Avian and Mosquito Hosts to Strains of Plasmodium relictum Isolated from Pigeons*

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

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