Survey on Avian Malaria Parasites in Village Chickens(Gallus gallus domesticus)in Gombe Local Government Area,Gombe State,Nigeria

Reports of avian malaria parasites in village chicken in Nigeria generally remain fragmentary and scarce.The study was conducted in Gombe Local Government Area of Gombe State,Nigeria to investigate avian malaria parasites in Village Chickens(Gallus gallus domesticus)and to determine the risk factors associated with the prevalence of the haemoparasites.A total of 530 village chickens blood samples were obtained from apparently healthy village chickens'brachial veins using sterile 2mls syringes and 23 gauge needles.Thin blood smear was made from each blood sample,and Giemsa stained and examined for the presence of avian haemoparasites under an electro-microscope.The result indicates 23.8%overall prevalence rate of three species of avian malaria parasites consisting of Plasmodium,Haemoproteus and Leucocytozoon species.Plasmodium spp.has the highest prevalent rate of 13.0%followed by Haemoproteus spp.(5.1%),mixed Plasmodium spp.+Haemoproteus spp.(4.9%)infection and Leucocytozoon spp.(0.8%).Prevalence of avian malaria parasites was significantly higher in cocks compared to hens(p<0.05),as well as higher in adults compared to growers chickens(p<0.05).This study also showed a higher prevalence of avian malaria parasites during the rainy season compared to the dry season of the study period.It was concluded that haemoparasites of Plasmodium,Haemoproteus and Leucocytozoon species that occur in both single and mixed infections are prevalent among village chickens that are apparently healthy in Gombe Local Government Area of Gombe State,Nigeria.

Differential effects of environmental climatic variables on parasite abundances in blue tit nests during a decade

Models on climate change have predicted an increase of temperature over the earth’s surface with potential drastic effects on living organisms.We analyzed the relationships between climatic conditions(temperature,rainfall,and wind speed)and the abundance of blood-sucking flying insects(biting midges and blackflies)and nest-dwelling ectoparasites(mites,fleas,and blowflies)collected from blue tit nests during bird breeding seasons for a period of 10 years.Average temperature,rainfall,and wind speed showed significant differences among years.Temperature and wind speed increased during the period of study while rainfall decreased.Biting midge,blackfly,and blowfly abundances increased across years but not flea and mite abundances.Hatching date decreased and brood size increased across years.Independently of year variation,parasites were related to climatic variables.For example,biting midge,blowfly,mite,and flea abundances were positive and significantly related to average temperature.We also found a positive and significant relationship between abundances of Haemoproteus infections and biting midge abundances during the first year of life of birds out of nests.However,abundance and prevalence of Lankesterella infections in yearlings were positive and significantly related to mite abundances during the year of birth of birds.Leucocytozoon and Lankesterella infections were also significantly related to climatic variables and Haemoproteus and Lankesterella infections increased across years.In addition,body condition of adult females and males were negatively related to flea larvae and blowfly abundance respectively.Nestling body condition was also negatively related to biting midge abundance.Changes in climatic conditions across years could therefore affect several parasites of birds but also to birds themselves.

Diversity and host assemblage of avian haemosporidians in different terrestrial ecoregions of Peru

Characterizing the diversity and structure of host–parasite communities is crucial to understandingtheir eco-evolutionary dynamics.Malaria and related haemosporidian parasites are responsible forfitness loss and mortality in bird species worldwide.However,despite exhibiting the greatest ornithologicalbiodiversity,avian haemosporidians from Neotropical regions are quite unexplored.Here,we analyze the genetic diversity of bird haemosporidian parasites(Plasmodium andHaemoproteus)in 1,336 individuals belonging to 206 bird species to explore for differences in diversityof parasite lineages and bird species across 5 well-differentiated Peruvian ecoregions.Wedetected 70 different haemosporidian lineages infecting 74 bird species.We showed that 25 out ofthe 70 haplotypes had not been previously recorded.Moreover,we also identified 81 new host–parasite interactions representing new host records for these haemosporidian parasites.Our outcomesrevealed that the effective diversity(as well as the richness,abundance,and Shannon–Weaver index)for both birds and parasite lineages was higher in Amazon basin ecoregions.Furthermore,we also showed that ecoregions with greater diversity of bird species also had highparasite richness,hence suggesting that host community is crucial in explaining parasite richness.Generalist parasites were found in ecoregions with lower bird diversity,implying that the abundanceand richness of hosts may shape the exploitation strategy followed by haemosporidian parasites.These outcomes reveal that Neotropical region is a major reservoir of unidentified haemosporidianlineages.Further studies analyzing host distribution and specificity of these parasites inthe tropics will provide important knowledge about phylogenetic relationships,phylogeography,and patterns of evolution and distribution of haemosporidian parasites.