Avian Hosts and Their Parasites: Parasitological Studies on Protozoa and Helminths

Dear Colleagues,

Parasites of wild birds—both protozoans and helminths—affect biodiversity, alter behaviour, shape ecological interactions, guide host evolution, and inform conservation. A deep understanding of host–parasite associations is essential for predicting when parasites will emerge, how they will be transmitted, and how pathogenic they might become. Birds occupy a unique ecological role as vehicles for parasite transmission: their long‑range movements, especially via migration, enable parasites to disperse across broad geographic scales, thereby increasing parasite prevalence, richness, and diversity in new regions. There are still open and/or under-researched issues in the field of bird-parasite interactions and wild birds as parasite hosts, which seem to have been highlighted by recent studies. Many studies document parasite presence at local scales, but our knowledge remains fragmented—the true geographic ranges of numerous avian parasite species are still poorly understood. Another important question concerns parasite specificity: which parasite species are highly host‑specialized and which are generalists, and how does host phylogeny constrain the host range of these parasites? An additional crucial topic concerns the discovery of novel parasites and lineages (e.g., haemosporidians, Sarcocystis) in under‑sampled host species or regions. For such newly detected species and/ or lineages, key questions remain about pathogenicity, vector identity, and full life cycles. There remain substantial methodological gaps in parasite research: some lineages are cryptic and remain undetected with current techniques, and many species are hard to detect using standard diagnostics. Recent studies show improved sensitivity when combining methods (e.g., microscopy, nested PCR, and multiplex PCR) or using genus‑specific primers and full mitochondrial genome amplification. There is therefore considerable room for advancement in molecular tools, genomic data collection, diagnostic protocols, and for standardizing methods to enable valid comparisons across different studies.

The aim of this Special Issue is to illuminate the role of wild birds as hosts for protozoan and helminth parasites, examining global and regional patterns of parasite distribution, host specificity, the emergence of novel parasite species or lineages, and existing methodological gaps.

Dr. Evelina Juozaitytė-Ngugu
Guest Editor

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• diagnostic techniques
• protozoan parasites
• helminths
• One Health
• birds