New insights into avian malaria infections in New Zealand seabirds
The past few years have been marked by a drastic increase in pathogen spillover events. However, the extent and taxonomic range at which these events take place remain as crucial unanswered questions in many host–pathogen systems. Here, we take advantage of opportunistically sampled bird carcasses f...
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Published in | Parasitology research (1987) Vol. 123; no. 4; p. 184 |
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Main Authors | , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Berlin/Heidelberg
Springer Berlin Heidelberg
01.04.2024
Springer Nature B.V |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | The past few years have been marked by a drastic increase in pathogen spillover events. However, the extent and taxonomic range at which these events take place remain as crucial unanswered questions in many host–pathogen systems. Here, we take advantage of opportunistically sampled bird carcasses from the South Island of New Zealand, with the aim of identifying
Plasmodium
spp. infections in native and endemic New Zealand seabird species. In total, six samples from five bird species were positive for avian malaria, including four of which were successfully sequenced and identified as
Plasmodium matutinum
LINN1 lineage. These results provide new
Plasmodium
infection records in seabirds, including the first documented case in Procellariiformes in New Zealand, highlighting the potential disease risk to these species. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 0932-0113 1432-1955 |
DOI: | 10.1007/s00436-024-08210-4 |