Parsons N J, Voogt N M, Schaefer A M, Peirce M A, Vanstreels R E T
Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB), P.O. Box 11116, Bloubergrant, 7443, South Africa; Bayworld Centre for Research and Education, Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB), P.O. Box 11116, Bloubergrant, 7443, South Africa.
Vet Parasitol. 2017 Jan 15;233:52-61. doi: 10.1016/j.vetpar.2016.12.001. Epub 2016 Dec 2.
Blood parasites are generally uncommon in seabirds, and knowledge on their epidemiology is further limited by the fact that they often inhabit remote locations that are logistically difficult or expensive to study. We present a long term data set of blood smear examinations of 1909 seabirds belonging to 27 species that were admitted to a rehabilitation centre in Cape Town (Western Cape, South Africa) between 2001 and 2013. Blood parasites were detected in 59% of species (16/27) and 29% of individuals examined (551/1909). The following blood parasites were recorded: Babesia ugwidiensis, Babesia peircei, Babesia sp., Plasmodium sp., Leucocytozoon ugwidi, Hepatozoon albatrossi, Haemoproteus skuae and Spirochaetales. Several of the records are novel host-parasite associations, demonstrating the potential of rehabilitation centres for parasite and disease surveillance, particularly for species infrequently sampled from which no host-specific parasites have been described.
血液寄生虫在海鸟中通常并不常见，而且由于它们常常栖息在偏远地区，从后勤角度来说研究难度大且成本高，这进一步限制了我们对其流行病学的了解。我们提供了一个长期数据集，该数据集来自于2001年至2013年间被送往南非西开普省开普敦一家康复中心的1909只海鸟，这些海鸟分属于27个物种，我们对其进行了血涂片检查。在59%的物种（16/27）和29%的受检个体（551/1909）中检测到了血液寄生虫。记录到的血液寄生虫如下：乌格维地巴贝斯虫、皮尔西巴贝斯虫、巴贝斯虫属、疟原虫属、乌格维地白细胞虫、信天翁肝簇虫、贼鸥血变原虫和螺旋体目。其中一些记录是新发现的宿主 - 寄生虫组合，这表明康复中心在寄生虫和疾病监测方面具有潜力，特别是对于那些很少采样且尚未描述过宿主特异性寄生虫的物种。
