Bukauskaitė Dovilė, Romeiro Fernandes Chagas Carolina, Duc Mélanie, Kazak Margarita, Treinys Rimgaudas
Nature Research Centre, Akademijos 2, 08412, Vilnius, Lithuania.
Int J Parasitol Parasites Wildl. 2024 Oct 29;25:101013. doi: 10.1016/j.ijppaw.2024.101013. eCollection 2024 Dec.
Wild birds of prey (Accipitriformes) are infected with haemosporidian (Haemosporida) parasites worldwide, and it is known that these parasites can negatively affect their health. These birds are less studied due to their low densities in ecosystems, conservation status, and difficulty of accessing them in the wild. Therefore, in this study, we focused on nestlings of birds of prey that are accessible in their nests during late breeding stages in temperate forests in Lithuania. Investigating haemosporidian parasites in nestlings is crucial for understanding local parasite transmission. To identify the haemosporidian parasite species transmitted in Lithuania, we sampled nestlings of the white-tailed eagles (), lesser spotted eagles (), and common buzzards () in 2019-2022. Blood samples were collected from the nestlings, and molecular methods were employed to sequence a fragment of the parasite's cytochrome (cyt ) gene using specific primers (Plas1F/HaemNR3 and 3760F/HaemJR4). In addition to molecular techniques, microscopy was used to examine blood smears for the presence of parasites. Our results revealed that nestlings of birds of prey were infected only with spp., with an overall prevalence of 30.5%. The prevalence was similar between years, but it was significantly species-dependent. The common buzzard nestlings had the highest prevalence (80%), followed by the lesser spotted eagle (29.2%) and the white-tailed eagle (13.2%). A total of nine genetic lineages were identified, with five of them being novel. Our study demonstrates that parasites are actively transmitted to nestlings of birds of prey in Lithuania, with a high prevalence.
野生猛禽（鹰形目）在全球范围内都感染血孢子虫（血孢子虫纲）寄生虫，并且已知这些寄生虫会对它们的健康产生负面影响。由于这些鸟类在生态系统中的低密度、保护状况以及在野外接近它们的困难，对它们的研究较少。因此，在本研究中，我们聚焦于立陶宛温带森林繁殖后期在巢穴中易于接触到的猛禽雏鸟。调查雏鸟中的血孢子虫寄生虫对于了解当地寄生虫传播至关重要。为了鉴定在立陶宛传播的血孢子虫寄生虫种类，我们在2019 - 2022年对白尾海雕、小斑鹰和普通鵟的雏鸟进行了采样。从雏鸟采集血样，并采用分子方法使用特异性引物（Plas1F/HaemNR3和3760F/HaemJR4）对寄生虫的细胞色素b（cyt b）基因片段进行测序。除了分子技术外，还使用显微镜检查血涂片以检测寄生虫的存在。我们的结果显示，猛禽雏鸟仅感染了疟原虫属物种，总体患病率为30.5%。患病率在各年份之间相似，但显著依赖于物种。普通鵟雏鸟的患病率最高（80%），其次是小斑鹰（29.2%）和白尾海雕（13.2%）。总共鉴定出9个遗传谱系，其中5个是新发现的。我们的研究表明，疟原虫属寄生虫在立陶宛活跃地传播给猛禽雏鸟，患病率很高。
