Hemoparasitismo por Plasmodium spp. e Haemoproteus spp. em Passeriformes da Mata Atlântica Mineira e caracterização morfológica de Plasmodium (Haemamoeba) lutzi lucena, 1939

Abstract

Hemosporidian wild birds are considered important etiological agents and can cause damage to populations of hosts. The present study aimed to: ¹determine prevalence and parasitemia for Plasmodium spp. and Haemoproteus spp. Passeriformes of the Atlantic Forest of Minas Gerais, through two diagnostic methods, microscopy and nested PCR; and caracterize morphologically the species Plasmodium (Haemamoeba) lutzi Lucena, 1939. Blood samples were obtained by puncturing the brachial vein for preparation of smears, fixed in methanol and stained with Giemsa. 237 birds belonging to 18 families and 56 species of the order Passeriformes from IBAMA were sampled and captured in the Botanical Garden of the Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora (BG-UFJF). The prevalence of Plasmodium spp. in birds of IBAMA was 63.63% and 26.25% in birds of BG-FUJF, only three individuals were infected by Haemoproteus spp., two (2.5%) from IBAMA and one (0.62 %) of BG-FUJF. The average parasitemia found for Plasmodium spp./ Haemoproteus spp. was 0.08 (± 0.08) at IBAMA and 0.05 (± 0.04) in BG-UFJF. The highest degree of mean parasitaemia was recorded in the species Turdus albicollis, Zonotrichia capensis (0.22%), Turdus rufiventris (0.18% ± 0.29), Gnorimopsar chopi (0.1% ± 0.07) at IBAMA and Turdus rufiventris (0.17% ± 0.13), Arremon semitorquatus (0.11% ± 0.13) in BG-UFJF. Was identified in one of the birds (A. semitorquatus) by means of morphology, the presence of Plasmodium (H.) lutzi species, which was characterized morphologically. Registered prevalence is considered high, however a low parasitaemia was found, which may be related to chronic course of infection.. Acute infections with Plasmodium spp. lead to the onset of clinical signs with rapid symptom expression, and in severe cases death canoccurat the host. Since the high prevalence surveys about hemoparasites infections in wild birds can help in developing strategies for prophylaxis and treatment of parasitic diseases to species conservation.