Lynch K I, Kelly T R, Erram D, Lattin C R, LaCour J, Foil L
Department of Biological Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA.
Department of Biological Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA,
Avian Dis. 2025 Jun;69(2):160-169. doi: 10.1637/aviandiseases-D-25-00022.
Eastern wild turkeys () in Louisiana have not fully recovered since their decline in the mid-20th century, despite multiple conservation management efforts. Wild turkeys are susceptible to infection and also serve as reservoirs of parasites. In this study, we tested for Haemosporidian infections (, , and ) in 106 different blood samples collected from hunted and live-trapped turkeys in Louisiana using PCR and sequencing of amplicons. was the most prevalent genus (92%) and had the highest species diversity among the three genera. One-third of our samples were positive for infection, significantly less than but similar to . Male turkeys were more likely to be infected by parasites than females. We detected two species, and , the latter possibly being the first detection in North America. There were four times as many turkeys infected with all three genera of Haemosporidia than uninfected turkeys. Last, we present a case study of an emaciated wild turkey in Louisiana; its death was attributed to infection Future research into the pathology of infections will clarify whether parasites may contribute to population declines in turkeys through mortality or negative reproduction impacts, and whether one sex is more tolerant to infection than the other.
自20世纪中叶数量下降以来，路易斯安那州的东部野生火鸡（）尽管经过了多次保护管理努力，仍未完全恢复。野生火鸡易受感染，也是寄生虫的宿主。在本研究中，我们使用PCR和扩增子测序，对从路易斯安那州狩猎和活捉的火鸡采集的106份不同血液样本进行了血孢子虫感染检测（、和）。是最普遍的属（92%），在这三个属中物种多样性最高。我们三分之一的样本感染呈阳性，明显低于，但与相似。雄性火鸡比雌性火鸡更容易感染寄生虫。我们检测到两种物种，和，后者可能是在北美首次检测到。感染所有三个血孢子虫属的火鸡数量是未感染火鸡的四倍。最后，我们展示了路易斯安那州一只瘦弱野生火鸡的案例研究；其死亡归因于感染。未来对感染病理学的研究将阐明血孢子虫寄生虫是否可能通过死亡率或负面繁殖影响导致火鸡种群数量下降，以及是否一种性别比另一种性别对感染更具耐受性。
