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Haemosporidian parasites from captive Strigiformes in France

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Abstract

Haemosporidia infections may cause major damage to avian populations and represent a concern for veterinarians working in zoological parks or wildlife rescue centres. Following the fatal infection of 9 Great grey owls (Strix nebulosa) at Mulhouse zoological park, between summer 2013 and 2015, a prospective epidemiological investigation was performed in captive strigiform birds in France in 2016. The purpose was to evaluate the prevalence of haemosporidian parasites in captive Strigiformes and to estimate the infection dynamics around the nesting period. Blood samples were taken from 122 strigiform birds representing 14 species from 15 French zoological parks. Parasites were detected by direct examination of blood smears and by PCR targeting the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene. Haemosporidian parasites were detected in 59 birds from 11 zoos. Three distinct Haemoproteus mitochondrial cytochrome b sequences (haplotypes A and C for H. syrnii and haplotype B for Haemoproteus sp.) as well as two species of Plasmodium were detected. The overall prevalence of Haemoproteus infection was 12.8%. The percentage of birds infected by Haemoproteus varied according to the period of sampling. Nesting season seemed to be at greater risk with an average prevalence of 53.9% compared with winter season with an average prevalence of 14.8%, related to the abundance of the vectors. The prevalence of Plasmodium infection in Strigiformes did not exceed 8% throughout the year. This study confirmed how significant Haemosporidia infection could be in Strigiformes from zoological parks in France. The nesting season was identified as a period of higher risk of infection and consequently the appropriate period to apply prophylactic measures.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the veterinarians from all the French zoological parks who participated in this study. We thank the bird section staff of Mulhouse zoo for their technical assistance. We thank Karin Lemberger for her help with the histopathology. We would also like to thank the Association Française des Vétérinaires de Parcs zoologiques (AFVPZ) for financial support (Grant 2016).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Parc zoologique et botanique de Mulhouse, Mulhouse, France

    Marine Giorgiadis & Benoît Quintard

  2. Parasitology, BioPôle Alfort, EA Dynamic UPEC, Ecole nationale vétérinaire d’Alfort, USC Anses, Maisons-Alfort, France

    Marine Giorgiadis & Jacques Guillot

  3. Unité Molécules de Communication et Adaptation des Microorganismes (MCAM, UMR7245), Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, CNRS, Paris, France

    Linda Duval & Irène Landau

Authors
  1. Marine Giorgiadis
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  2. Jacques Guillot
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  3. Linda Duval
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  4. Irène Landau
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  5. Benoît Quintard
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Correspondence to Jacques Guillot.

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Giorgiadis, M., Guillot, J., Duval, L. et al. Haemosporidian parasites from captive Strigiformes in France. Parasitol Res 119, 2975–2981 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-020-06801-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-020-06801-5

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