Leucocytozoon smithi: persistence of gametocytes in peripheral turkey blood.

Ten-week-old Broad-breasted White turkeys were exposed for 2 weeks to a natural infection of Leucocytozoon smithi in Marlboro and Sumter Counties in South Carolina. The birds were then returned to Clemson, South Carolina, and housed in pens proofed against black flies (Simulium sp.) to prevent any reinfection. Blood smears, stained with Giemsa's stain, were prepared at regular intervals to determine the presence of gametocytes of L. smithi after a single natural infectional exposure. Gametocytes were observed in the blood smears for 13 consecutive months, after which the experiment was terminated.