Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, Greifswald, Germany.
Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany.
Parasit Vectors. 2023 Oct 18;16(1):369. doi: 10.1186/s13071-023-05965-0.
Although haemosporidian parasites may cause considerable health and economic problems in aviaries, there is limited understanding of the vectors transmitting them. Mosquito-borne Plasmodium species are responsible for the deaths of numerous exotic (= immunologically naïve) birds in zoos every year, while native birds are adapted to the parasites and largely protected by an effective immune response.
Mosquitoes were collected in bird/animal parks, wetlands and private gardens in various regions of Germany from 2020 to 2022. Females were pooled with up to 10 specimens according to taxon, location and date. Extracted DNA was screened for avian Haemosporida-specific mitochondrial rDNA using real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Positive samples were amplified by a Plasmodium/Haemoproteus-specific nested PCR targeting the partial cytochrome b gene, followed by sequencing of the PCR product for species identification. Sequences were checked against GenBank and MalAvi databases.
PCR of 2633 pools with 8834 female mosquitoes signalled infection with Plasmodium in 46 pools and with Haemoproteus in one pool. Further amplification and sequencing demonstrated the occurrence of Haemoproteus majoris lineage PARUS1 (n = 1) as well as several Plasmodium species and lineages, including Plasmodium relictum SGS1 (n = 16) and GRW11 (n = 1), P. matutinum LINN1 (n = 13), P. vaughani SYAT05 (n = 10), P. circumflexum TURDUS01 (n = 3), P. cathemerium PADOM02 (n = 1) and Plasmodium sp. SYBOR02 (n = 1) and PLOPRI01 (n = 1). The infections were detected in Culex pipiens sensu lato (n = 40), Culiseta morsitans/fumipennis (n = 6) and Aedes cinereus/geminus (n = 1).
Although the overall Plasmodium minimum infection rate (5.2) appears to be low, the results demonstrated not only the ongoing circulation of Plasmodium parasites in the German mosquito population, but also the occurrence of eight distinct Plasmodium lineages, with three of them (PADOM02, SYBOR02, PLOPRI01) being detected in Germany for the first time. This study highlights the importance of conducting mosquito-borne pathogen surveillance studies simultaneously targeting vectors and vertebrate hosts, as certain species may be detected more readily in their vectors than in their vertebrate hosts, and vice versa.
尽管血液寄生虫可能会给鸟类饲养场带来相当大的健康和经济问题，但人们对传播它们的媒介知之甚少。由蚊子传播的疟原虫负责每年导致动物园里无数外来（=免疫幼稚）鸟类死亡，而本地鸟类适应寄生虫并受到有效免疫反应的保护。
2020 年至 2022 年，从德国各地的鸟类/动物公园、湿地和私人花园中采集蚊子。根据分类群、位置和日期，将多达 10 个标本的雌性蚊子合并在一起。使用实时聚合酶链反应（PCR）对提取的 DNA 进行针对禽血孢子虫特异性线粒体 rDNA 的筛选。阳性样本通过针对部分细胞色素 b 基因的疟原虫/血孢子虫特异性巢式 PCR 进行扩增，然后对 PCR 产物进行测序以确定物种身份。将序列与 GenBank 和 MalAvi 数据库进行核对。
对 2633 个含有 8834 只雌性蚊子的池进行 PCR 检测，其中 46 个池呈疟原虫感染，1 个池呈血孢子虫感染。进一步的扩增和测序表明，Haemoproteus majoris 谱系 PARUS1（n=1）以及几种疟原虫和谱系的出现，包括 Plasmodium relictum SGS1（n=16）和 GRW11（n=1），P. matutinum LINN1（n=13），P. vaughani SYAT05（n=10），P. circumflexum TURDUS01（n=3），P. cathemerium PADOM02（n=1）和 Plasmodium sp. SYBOR02（n=1）和 PLOPRI01（n=1）。感染在 Culex pipiens 亚种（n=40）、Culiseta morsitans/fumipennis（n=6）和 Aedes cinereus/geminus（n=1）中检测到。
尽管总体上疟原虫最小感染率（5.2）似乎较低，但结果不仅表明疟原虫寄生虫在德国蚊子种群中持续循环，而且还表明存在 8 种不同的疟原虫谱系，其中 3 种（PADOM02、SYBOR02、PLOPRI01）首次在德国检测到。这项研究强调了同时针对媒介和脊椎动物宿主进行蚊媒病原体监测研究的重要性，因为某些物种在其媒介中的检测可能比在其脊椎动物宿主中更容易，反之亦然。
