Occurrence, Prevalence, and Distribution of Haemoparasites of Poultry in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Scoping Review.

This review collated existing data on the occurrence, distribution, and prevalence of haemoparasites of poultry in sub-Saharan Africa. A literature search was conducted on three electronic search databases using search terms and Boolean operators (AND, OR). The results recorded 16 haemoparasites, viz., spp., spp., spp., and spp. from a wide range of poultry species distributed across Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Ghana, Cameroon, and Zambia. Infections due to and species were the most common and documented in eight of the ten reviewed countries. The presence of mixed infections was observed in quails, pigeons, chickens, ducks, turkeys, and guineafowls, but predominantly in chickens. Co-infections by spp. and spp. were the most common, which may be attributed to the distribution of these species, coupled with the availability of vectors they are associated with in areas from which they were documented. The information generated in this review is essential for improving existing preventive and control measures of these parasites in sub-Saharan Africa.