The Role of Birds of the Family Corvidae in Transmitting Protozoan Parasites.

Members of the family Corvidae are ecologically flexible omnivorous birds, particularly adaptive to urban habitats, and living in proximity to humans; these birds may serve as definitive hosts (DH) for spp., but research about this is lacking. In the present study, intestinal samples from 91 corvids collected in Lithuania were molecularly tested by species-specific PCR targeting the ITS1 and genes and subsequently sequenced for the presence of spp. Under a light microscope, oocysts of spp. were observed in 43 samples (47.3%), while molecular methods, detected spp. in 77 birds (84.6%). Eleven spp. (. , . , potentially pathogenic . , . , . , . , . , . , . , . , and . ) were identified in the intestinal samples from six corvid species from Lithuania. Infections with multiple spp. were detected in 79.2% of the infected corvid birds. Three of the identified spp. use corvids as intermediate hosts (IH); therefore, corvids may serve as IH and DH of the same species. Based on molecular results and on corvid diet, omnivorous corvids may play an important role in transmitting spp.