LOW PREVALENCE OF HAEMOSPORIDIANS IN BLOOD AND TISSUE SAMPLES FROM HUMMINGBIRDS

LOW PREVALENCE OF HAEMOSPORIDIANS IN BLOOD AND TISSUE SAMPLES FROM HUMMINGBIRDS

Hummingbirds are vital members of terrestrial ecosystems, and because of their high metabolic requirements, they serve as indicators of ecosystem health. Monitoring the parasitic infections of hummingbirds is thus especially important. Haemosporidians, a widespread group of avian blood parasites, ar...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of parasitology Vol. 107; no. 5; p. 794
Main Authors: Galvin, A N, Bradshaw, A C, Myers, B M, Tell, L A, Ernest, H B, Sehgal, R N M
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: United States 13-10-2021
Subjects:
Animals
Arizona - epidemiology
Bird Diseases - blood
Bird Diseases - epidemiology
Bird Diseases - parasitology
Birds
California - epidemiology
Female
Haemosporida - isolation & purification
Male
Prevalence
Protozoan Infections, Animal - blood
Protozoan Infections, Animal - epidemiology
Protozoan Infections, Animal - parasitology
Arizona
California
Tissue
Prevalence
Blood parasite
Haemosporidian
Bird
Detection
Hummingbird
Blood
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Summary:Hummingbirds are vital members of terrestrial ecosystems, and because of their high metabolic requirements, they serve as indicators of ecosystem health. Monitoring the parasitic infections of hummingbirds is thus especially important. Haemosporidians, a widespread group of avian blood parasites, are known to infect hummingbirds, but little is known about the prevalence and diversity of these parasites in hummingbirds. The prevalence of haemosporidians in several hummingbird species was examined and we compared 4 different tissue types in detecting parasites by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Blood samples from 339 individuals of 3 different hummingbird species were tested, and 4 individuals were found positive for haemosporidian infection, a prevalence of 1.2%. Hummingbird carcasses (n = 70) from 5 different hummingbird species were also sampled to assess differences in detection success of haemosporidians in heart, kidney, liver, and pectoral muscle tissue samples. Detection success was similar among tissue types, with haemosporidian prevalence of 9.96% in heart tissue, 9.52% in kidney tissue, 10.76% in liver tissue, and 11.76% in pectoral muscle tissue. All tissue samples positive for haemosporidian infection were from the Black-chinned Hummingbird (Archilochus alexandri). Possible reasons for low prevalence of these blood parasites could include low susceptibility to insect vectors or parasite incompatibility in these hummingbirds.
ISSN:1937-2345
DOI:10.1645/20-168