title: Intestinal and haematic parasitism in the birds of the Almuñecar (Granada, Spain) ornithological garden.
abstract: Birds from the Almuñecar ornithological garden (Granada, Spain) were surveyed from June 2006 to May 2007 to establish programmes to prevent, control, and treat intestinal and haematic parasites. A total of 984 faecal samples and 41 samples of blood were collected from Psittacidae, Cacatuidae, Phasianidae, and Anatidae. One or more intestinal parasites were identified in 51.6% of the samples. Blood parasites were found in 26.8% of the birds examined. The most frequent pathogenic endoparasites were coccidians, such as Cyclospora sp. (4.5%), Eimeria sp. (4.1%) and Isospora sp. (2%) and helminths such as Capillaria sp. (10. 1%), Ascaridia sp. (4.9%) and Heterakis gallinarum (4.9%). All the parasites varied with season but the most were found year round. Multiple parasitic infections by intestinal parasites were common, with 196 of 984 faecal samples having 2-5 intestinal parasites. The most frequent cases of multiple parasitism were Blastocystis plus Entamoeba sp. and Blastocystis plus Cyclospora sp. The haematic protozoa detected were Haemoproteus sp. (17%) and Plasmodium sp. (7.3%). Multiple parasitism by Haemoproteus sp. and Plasmodium sp. was detected in 1 sample of Gallus gallus. After each sampling, some of the affected animals were treated according to our results, and the corresponding programmes of prevention and control were designed.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Parasitología, Facultad de Ciencias, Instituto de Biotecnología, Universidad de Granada, C/Severo Ochoa, 18071 Granada, Spain.
authors.forename: G Pérez
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Cordón
authors.forename: A Hitos
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Prados
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Romero
authors.forename: M Sánchez
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Moreno
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pontes
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Osuna
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Rosales
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000836:Animals, Zoo / Q000469:parasitology*; D001715:Bird Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology*; D001717:Birds; D001769:Blood / Q000469:parasitology; D005243:Feces / Q000469:parasitology; D006374:Helminthiasis, Animal / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology*; D007422:Intestines / Q000469:parasitology; D015995:Prevalence; D011529:Protozoan Infections, Animal / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology*; D012621:Seasons; D013030:Spain