Massey J G, Graczyk T K, Cranfield M R
Department of Land and Natural Resources, Olinda Endangered Species Propagation Facility, Makawao, Hawaii 96768, USA.
J Parasitol. 1996 Feb;82(1):182-5.
Indigenous to Hawaii, the Hawaiian crow (Corvus hawaiiensis) is the world's most severely endangered species with only 3 reproductively active pairs remaining in the wild. Seven captive-reared, avian malaria-naive C. hawaiiensis were exposed in an outdoor aviary and hematologically and serologically monitored for 9 wk. Three birds showed Plasmodium relictum capistranoae parasitemia (6.35%, 2.15%, and 0.60%). All birds were seroconverted for malaria on week 7 as determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Malaria IgG levels of exposed parasitemic birds did not differ from those of exposed nonparasitemic C. hawaiiensis and were not significantly correlated with the level of parasitemia. Four of 9 hematological parameters, e.g., white blood cell count (WBC), relative and absolute lymphocytosis, and total solids (TS), showed significant increases related to ELISA-determined malarial infection. The sensitivity, specificity, and the positive predictive values of these 4 parameters for malarial infections in C. hawaiiensis were higher than 66%, with the WBC and TS sensitivity reaching 100%. The reference range of 9 hematological parameters was established based on uninfected, clinically healthy C. hawaiiensis. Seven birds were successfully treated and released, increasing the total wild C. hawaiiensis world population by approximately 50%.
夏威夷乌鸦（Corvus hawaiiensis）原产于夏威夷，是世界上最濒危的物种，野外仅存3对具有繁殖能力的个体。7只人工饲养、未感染禽疟的夏威夷乌鸦被放置在室外鸟舍中，并在9周内进行血液学和血清学监测。3只鸟出现了残疟原虫卡皮斯特拉诺亚种（Plasmodium relictum capistranoae）血症（6.35%、2.15%和0.60%）。通过酶联免疫吸附测定（ELISA）确定，所有鸟在第7周时疟疾血清学均发生转换。出现血症的暴露鸟类的疟疾IgG水平与未出现血症的暴露夏威夷乌鸦的水平没有差异，且与血症水平无显著相关性。9项血液学参数中的4项，即白细胞计数（WBC）、相对和绝对淋巴细胞增多以及总固体（TS），显示出与ELISA确定的疟疾感染相关的显著增加。这4项参数对夏威夷乌鸦疟疾感染的敏感性、特异性和阳性预测值均高于66%，其中WBC和TS的敏感性达到100%。基于未感染、临床健康的夏威夷乌鸦建立了9项血液学参数的参考范围。7只鸟成功接受治疗并放归自然，使野外夏威夷乌鸦的全球总数增加了约50%。
