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Blood Parasites in Sympatric Vultures: Role of Nesting Habits and Effects on Body Condition

Avian haemosporidians are a common and widespread group of vector-borne parasites capable of infecting most bird species around the world. They can negatively affect host condition and fitness. Vultures are assumed to have a very low prevalence of these blood parasites, likely due to their strong im...

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Autores principales: Chakarov, Nayden, Blanco, Guillermo
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7967578/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33801498
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18052431
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author Chakarov, Nayden
Blanco, Guillermo
author_facet Chakarov, Nayden
Blanco, Guillermo
author_sort Chakarov, Nayden
collection PubMed
description Avian haemosporidians are a common and widespread group of vector-borne parasites capable of infecting most bird species around the world. They can negatively affect host condition and fitness. Vultures are assumed to have a very low prevalence of these blood parasites, likely due to their strong immunity; however, factors contributing to variation in host exposure and susceptibility to haemosporidians are complex, and supporting evidence is still very limited. We analyzed blood samples collected from nestlings of three vulture species in Spain over 18 years, and used updated nested-PCR protocols capable of detecting all haesmosporidian cytochrome b lineages typical for diurnal birds of prey (Accipitriformes). Similarly to previous studies, we found low haemosporidian prevalence in cliff-breeding species, with Leucocytozoon as the only represented blood parasite genus: 3.1% in griffon vultures (Gyps fulvus) (n = 128) and 5.3% in Egyptian vultures (Neophron percnopterus) (n = 114). In contrast, the tree-breeding cinereous vulture (Aegypius monachus) had a substantially higher prevalence: 10.3% (n = 146). By far the most common lineage in Spanish scavenging raptors was the Leucocytozoon lineage CIAE02. No effects of nestling age and sex, or temporal trends in prevalence were found, but an effect of nest habitat (tree-nest vs. cliff-nest) was found in the griffon vulture. These patterns may be explained by a preference of vectors to forage in and around trees rather than on cliffs and wide open spaces. We found an apparent detrimental effect of haemosporidians on body mass of nestling cinereous vultures. Further research is needed to evaluate the pathogenicity of each haemosporidian lineage and their interaction with the immune system of nestlings, especially if compromised due to pollution with pharmaceuticals and infection by bacterial and mycotic pathogens.
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spelling pubmed-79675782021-03-18 Blood Parasites in Sympatric Vultures: Role of Nesting Habits and Effects on Body Condition Chakarov, Nayden Blanco, Guillermo Int J Environ Res Public Health Article Avian haemosporidians are a common and widespread group of vector-borne parasites capable of infecting most bird species around the world. They can negatively affect host condition and fitness. Vultures are assumed to have a very low prevalence of these blood parasites, likely due to their strong immunity; however, factors contributing to variation in host exposure and susceptibility to haemosporidians are complex, and supporting evidence is still very limited. We analyzed blood samples collected from nestlings of three vulture species in Spain over 18 years, and used updated nested-PCR protocols capable of detecting all haesmosporidian cytochrome b lineages typical for diurnal birds of prey (Accipitriformes). Similarly to previous studies, we found low haemosporidian prevalence in cliff-breeding species, with Leucocytozoon as the only represented blood parasite genus: 3.1% in griffon vultures (Gyps fulvus) (n = 128) and 5.3% in Egyptian vultures (Neophron percnopterus) (n = 114). In contrast, the tree-breeding cinereous vulture (Aegypius monachus) had a substantially higher prevalence: 10.3% (n = 146). By far the most common lineage in Spanish scavenging raptors was the Leucocytozoon lineage CIAE02. No effects of nestling age and sex, or temporal trends in prevalence were found, but an effect of nest habitat (tree-nest vs. cliff-nest) was found in the griffon vulture. These patterns may be explained by a preference of vectors to forage in and around trees rather than on cliffs and wide open spaces. We found an apparent detrimental effect of haemosporidians on body mass of nestling cinereous vultures. Further research is needed to evaluate the pathogenicity of each haemosporidian lineage and their interaction with the immune system of nestlings, especially if compromised due to pollution with pharmaceuticals and infection by bacterial and mycotic pathogens. MDPI 2021-03-02 /pmc/articles/PMC7967578/ /pubmed/33801498 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18052431 Text en © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Chakarov, Nayden
Blanco, Guillermo
Blood Parasites in Sympatric Vultures: Role of Nesting Habits and Effects on Body Condition
title Blood Parasites in Sympatric Vultures: Role of Nesting Habits and Effects on Body Condition
title_full Blood Parasites in Sympatric Vultures: Role of Nesting Habits and Effects on Body Condition
title_fullStr Blood Parasites in Sympatric Vultures: Role of Nesting Habits and Effects on Body Condition
title_full_unstemmed Blood Parasites in Sympatric Vultures: Role of Nesting Habits and Effects on Body Condition
title_short Blood Parasites in Sympatric Vultures: Role of Nesting Habits and Effects on Body Condition
title_sort blood parasites in sympatric vultures: role of nesting habits and effects on body condition
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7967578/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33801498
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18052431
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