Prevalence of Hemolivia mauritanica (Apicomplexa: Adeleina: Haemogregarinidae) in natural populations of tortoises of the genus Testudo in the East Mediterranean region.
Hemolivia mauritanica (Sergent et Sergent, 1904) infections were found in 14% (n= 14) of Testudo graeca Linnaeus, 1758 tortoises in Bulgaria and in 92% (n = 26) of those in Turkey. Hemolivia mauritanica-like gametocytes were found in 81% (n = 47) of wild Testudo marginata Schoepff, 1792 tortoises in Greece. Parasitaemia intensity (the percentage of infected red blood cells found in approximately 104 cells) was 0.03-22.4% in T. graeca and 0.06-12.27% in T. marginata. On the other hand, all blood samples from 40 Bulgarian, 38 Greek, and 18 Croatian specimens of Testudo hermanni Gmelin, 1789 were negative.
Siroký
Pavel
P
Department of Biology and Wildlife Diseases, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences Brno, Palackého 1-3, 612 42 Brno, Czech Republic. sirokyp@vfu.cz
Kamler
Martin
M
Modrý
David
D
D000818:Animals; D016782:Apicomplexa / Q000502:physiology*; D002031:Bulgaria / Q000453:epidemiology; D017523:Croatia / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006115:Greece / Q000453:epidemiology; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D011529:Protozoan Infections, Animal / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology; D013987:Ticks / Q000469:parasitology; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology; D014426:Turtles / Q000469:parasitology*