Special Issue "Avian Blood Parasites"

A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Birds".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2021.

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Josef Harl
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Pathology, Department of Pathobiology, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Veterinärplatz 1, 1210 Vienna, Austria
Interests: evolutionary biology; avian haemosporidian parasites; phylogeography; systematics; population genetics; apicomplexan parasites; pathology of avian blood parasites
Dr. Mikas Ilgūnas
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Nature Research Centre, Akademijos str. 2, Vilnius, LT-08412, Lithuania
Interests: avian parasitology; parasite ecology; parasite biology; molecular parasitology; avian haemosporidian parasites; exo-erythrocytic development of avian haemosporidian parasites; pathology caused by avian haemosporidian parasites

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to announce a Special Issue in Animals (MDPI Journals) entitled “Avian blood parasites”. The journal Animals is devoted to animal research, covering general zoology and veterinary science, and is currently classified as Q1 (category: Veterinary Sciences) with an impact factor of 2.323 (2019). 

Like other groups of vertebrates, birds suffer from a large variety of parasitic diseases caused by haemosporidian parasites, helminths, and other parasitic agents. Due to the ability of most birds to fly and therefore passively transport pathogens, the geographic and host distribution of avian parasites is generally more complex than that of strictly terrestrial animals. Moreover, the life cycles of many endoparasites include the development in and transmission by arthropod vectors such as dipteran insects and arachnids. This is particularly prevalent in haemosporidian parasites, which are obligate heteroxenous parasites that undergo sexual reproduction in blood-sucking dipteran vectors and infect certain tissue and blood cells of their bird hosts. Morphological analyses have allowed more than 250 avian haemosporidian parasite species to be identified. Moreover, DNA-barcoding has revealed more than 3,500 unique avian haemosporidian lineages, many of which might represent distinct species according to recent studies. Haemosporidian parasites are common in birds and infections often used to be considered benign; however, high parasitemia and tissue stage formation in the internal organs can cause severe damage and lead to the death of the infected vertebrate hosts. Avian parasitology has therefore attracted scientists from multiple disciplines such as parasitology, ornithology, entomology, molecular biology, genetics, and veterinary science. Simultaneously, research on other avian parasites such as apicomplexans (Lankesterella spp., Eimeria spp., Cryptosporidium spp., etc.), filarial worms (Dirofilaria spp.), Trypanosoma spp., or Trichomonas spp. is also progressing, particularly due to the application of various molecular tools. Despite this new spike in interest, many aspects of avian parasite biology remain scarcely studied, particularly in parasites infecting wild birds.

This Special Issue calls for original research and review articles dealing with various aspects of avian parasitology, involving research on biogeography, population genetics, taxonomy, systematics, host–parasite or parasite–vector interaction studies, and veterinary pathology. The focus of this issue is avian haemosporidian parasites, but we also welcome submissions dealing with other avian parasites.

Dr. Josef Harl
Dr. Mikas Ilgūnas
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Animals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • avian parasites
  • avian haemosporidian parasites
  • helminths
  • vector-borne diseases
  • Trypanosoma
  • trichomonas
  • parasite genetics
  • biogeography of parasites
  • veterinary pathology
  • parasite biology

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

Article
Lankesterella (Apicomplexa, Lankesterellidae) Blood Parasites of Passeriform Birds: Prevalence, Molecular and Morphological Characterization, with Notes on Sporozoite Persistence In Vivo and Development In Vitro
Animals 2021, 11(5), 1451; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11051451 - 18 May 2021
Viewed by 772
Abstract
Recent studies confirmed that some Hepatozoon-like blood parasites (Apicomplexa) of birds are closely related to the amphibian parasite Lankesterella minima. Little is known about the biology of these pathogens in birds, including their distribution, life cycles, specificity, vectors, and molecular characterization. [...] Read more.
Recent studies confirmed that some Hepatozoon-like blood parasites (Apicomplexa) of birds are closely related to the amphibian parasite Lankesterella minima. Little is known about the biology of these pathogens in birds, including their distribution, life cycles, specificity, vectors, and molecular characterization. Using blood samples of 641 birds from 16 species, we (i) determined the prevalence and molecular diversity of Lankesterella parasites in naturally infected birds; (ii) investigated the development of Lankesterella kabeeni in laboratory-reared mosquitoes, Culex pipiens forma molestus and Aedes aegypti; and (iii) tested experimentally the susceptibility of domestic canaries, Serinus canaria, to this parasite. This study combined molecular and morphological diagnostic methods and determined 11% prevalence of Lankesterella parasites in Acrocephalidae birds; 16 Lankesterella lineages with a certain degree of host specificity and two new species (Lankesterella vacuolata n. sp. and Lankesterella macrovacuolata n. sp.) were found and characterized. Lankesterella kabeeni (formerly Hepatozoon kabeeni) was re-described. Serinus canaria were resistant after various experimental exposures. Lankesterella sporozoites rapidly escaped from host cells in vitro. Sporozoites persisted for a long time in infected mosquitoes (up to 42 days post exposure). Our study demonstrated a high diversity of Lankesterella parasites in birds, and showed that several avian Hepatozoon-like parasites, in fact, belong to Lankesterella genus. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Avian Blood Parasites)
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