de Carvalho E Vieira Lis Marques, Epiphanio Sabrina, Fernandes Natália Coelho Couto de Azevedo, Guerra Juliana Mariotti, Catão Dias José Luiz, Pacheco Maria Andreína, Escalante Ananias A, Braga Érika Martins
Departamento de Parasitologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.
Departamento de Análises Clínicas e Toxicológicas, Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
Parasitology. 2025 Feb;152(2):156-171. doi: 10.1017/S003118202500006X.
Avian parasites can be pathogenic to their vertebrate hosts. Although cases of anaemia are frequently reported in parasitized birds, the potential damage caused by the parasite during the exoerythrocytic reproduction phase remains poorly investigated. Here, we report 2 individuals of red-legged seriemas () infected with 2 different lineages of , one of them exhibiting potential malarial-compatible tissue lesions in the spleen, liver, brain and lungs, alongside molecular confirmation of parasite presence in the spleen. Previously classified as specific to birds from the order Piciformes, this parasite has shown different associated lineages amplified across diverse host orders in South America (Anseriformes, Charadriiformes, Columbiformes, Galliformes, Pelecaniformes and Passeriformes). Those infections, however, were defined as abortive due to the absence of gametocytes visualized in blood smear slides. Herein, we confirm as a generalist parasite based on the first morphological characterization in the peripheral blood of a bird outside the Piciformes order. This is also the first morphological and molecular description of a species in Cariamiformes. In addition to the morphological analyses, we have also proposed a novel phylogenetic hypothesis based on the partial gene and the near-complete mitochondrial genome of this parasite. Our findings support that the division of the genus into subgenera is not monophyletic, as ( and its associated lineages cluster more closely with ( than with (.
鸟类寄生虫可对其脊椎动物宿主致病。虽然在受寄生虫感染的鸟类中经常报告有贫血病例，但在红细胞外繁殖阶段寄生虫造成的潜在损害仍研究不足。在此，我们报告了2只红腿叫鹤（Cariama cristata）感染了2种不同谱系的疟原虫，其中一只在脾脏、肝脏、大脑和肺部表现出与疟疾相符的潜在组织损伤，同时在脾脏中通过分子手段确认了寄生虫的存在。这种寄生虫以前被归类为雀形目鸟类特有的寄生虫，但在南美洲已显示在不同宿主目（雁形目、鸻形目、鸽形目、鸡形目、鹈形目和雀形目）中扩增出不同的相关谱系。然而，由于在血涂片玻片上未观察到配子体，那些感染被定义为流产型。在此，我们基于雀形目以外鸟类外周血中的首次形态学特征，确认疟原虫为一种泛寄生物种。这也是叫鹤目疟原虫物种的首次形态学和分子描述。除形态学分析外，我们还基于该寄生虫的部分细胞色素b基因和近乎完整的线粒体基因组提出了一个新的系统发育假说。我们的研究结果支持疟原虫属分为亚属并非单系的观点，因为C. (P. juxtaniforme及其相关谱系与C. (P. circumflexum的聚类比与C. (P. relictum的聚类更紧密。
