Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Erciyes University, 38039, Kayseri, Turkey; Vectors and Vector-Borne Diseases Implementation and Research Center, Erciyes University, 38039, Kayseri, Turkey.
Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Ankara University, 06100, Ankara, Turkey.
Acta Trop. 2020 Oct;210:105465. doi: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2020.105465. Epub 2020 Jun 3.
Avian haemosporidians (Haemosporida) represent a globally distributed, species-rich multiparasite-multihost host-parasite system. Each year, many of these parasite lineages are carried between temperate and tropical regions by migratory birds. While several factors can limit the transmission of avian haemosporidians to new areas, recent studies have shown that some abundant parasites can sometimes disperse and be transmitted in new areas to become emerging infectious diseases. In this study, we investigated the prevalence and diversity of avian haemosporidian parasites in Sultan Marshes National Park (SMNP), a major stopover site in the eastern Mediterranean flyway, and we evaluated the potential for avian haemosporidians in SMNP to be transmitted to areas outside of their known distributions. We sampled a total of 565 migratory and resident birds belonging to 39 species and 23 families. We applied both molecular and microscopic methods to detect and identify avian haemosporidian infections and also quantified the frequency of potential abortive infections. We identified a total of 52 different mitochondrial cytochrome b (cyt b) parasite lineages belonging to the genera Plasmodium (N = 12), Haemoproteus (N = 31), and Leucocytozoon (N = 9) in 193 (34.2%) infected birds. Ten of the lineages were reported for the first time. Our findings show that numerous parasite lineages are actively transmitted among resident bird species of SMNP. Our findings also revealed new parasite-host interactions while considering the role of possible abortive infections. The relatively high frequency of presumed abortive infections suggests that analyses of datasets generated only by PCR-based methods should be interpreted with caution. We also compared the prevalence and distribution of avian haemosporidian infections in both resident and migratory bird species and showed that haemosporidian prevalence was related to bird migratory behavior. The results of this study contribute to a better understanding of the ecological and genetic adaptations associated with changes in transmission areas of avian haemosporidian parasites.
禽类血孢子虫（Haemosporida）是一种分布广泛、物种丰富的多寄生虫-多宿主寄生虫系统。每年，许多这些寄生虫通过候鸟在温带和热带地区之间传播。尽管有几个因素可以限制禽类血孢子虫向新地区的传播，但最近的研究表明，一些丰富的寄生虫有时可以扩散并在新地区传播，成为新出现的传染病。在这项研究中，我们调查了苏丹沼泽国家公园（SMNP）的禽类血孢子虫寄生虫的流行率和多样性，SMNP 是地中海东部候鸟迁徙路线上的一个主要中途停留地，并评估了 SMNP 中的禽类血孢子虫传播到其已知分布范围之外的潜在可能性。我们总共对属于 23 个科 39 种的 565 只迁徙和留鸟进行了采样。我们应用了分子和显微镜方法来检测和鉴定禽类血孢子虫感染，并量化了潜在的流产感染的频率。我们在 193 只感染的鸟类中鉴定出了总共 52 种不同的线粒体细胞色素 b（cyt b）寄生虫谱系，属于疟原虫属（N = 12）、血孢子虫属（N = 31）和白细胞虫属（N = 9）。其中 10 个谱系是首次报道。我们的研究结果表明，许多寄生虫谱系在 SMNP 的留鸟物种中积极传播。我们的研究结果还揭示了新的寄生虫-宿主相互作用，同时考虑了可能的流产感染的作用。假定的流产感染的相对高频率表明，仅通过基于 PCR 的方法生成的数据集的分析应谨慎解释。我们还比较了留鸟和候鸟物种中禽类血孢子虫感染的流行率和分布，并表明血孢子虫的流行率与鸟类的迁徙行为有关。本研究的结果有助于更好地理解与禽类血孢子虫寄生虫传播区变化相关的生态和遗传适应性。
