Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Low prevalence of blood parasites in Cerrado birds, Central Brazil

2007; Pensoft Publishers; Volume: 2; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.4013/5935

1809-9939

Alan Fecchio, Miguel Ângelo Marini, Érika Martins Braga,

Vector-borne infectious diseases

EnglishThe objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of blood parasites in wild birds in a Cerrado area in Central Brazil. A total of 508 individuals belonging to 26 species and nine families of the order Passeriformes were captured between April 2005 and March 2006 in five different phytophysiognomic types of Cerrado at the Aguas Emendadas Ecological Station, DF, Brazil. Analyses revealed that only 35 individuals (6.9% prevalence) were infected by parasites from the genera Haemoproteus or Plasmodium. Only three families, Emberizidae (9.9%), Tyrannidae (6.8%) and Furnariidae (2.2%), were infected. Six bird species were identified as hosts to Plasmodium or Haemoproteus for the first time. No significant difference for prevalence of parasites was found between the dry and rainy seasons (7.2% and 6.3%, respectively), and prevalence during the reproductive period (7.1%) was similar to that of the non-reproductive period (6.7%). Migratory bird species (3.4%) did not differ from resident bird species (8.3%). The low haemoparasite prevalence found for the Cerrado in the present study is one of the lowest registered for wild bird communities in the Neotropics and around the world. The results confirm patterns observed in previous studies in Brazil and the Neotropics. portuguesO objetivo do presente estudo foi determinar a prevalencia de hemoparasitos de aves silvestres em uma area de Cerrado do Brasil Central. Para isso foram examinados 508 individuos pertencentes a 26 especies e nove familias de Passeriformes capturados entre abril de 2005 e marco de 2006 em cinco fitofisionomias da Estacao Ecologica de Aguas Emendadas, DF, Brasil. Apenas 35 individuos (6,9%) estavam parasitados pelos generos Haemoproteus ou Plasmodium. Apenas tres familias se encontraram parasitadas: Emberizidae (9,9%), Tyrannidae (6,8%) e Furnariidae (2,2%). Seis especies de aves sao descritas pela primeira vez como hospedeiras de Haemoproteus ou Plasmodium. Nao foram encontradas diferencas significativas nas prevalencias de parasitismo entre as estacoes seca (7,2%) e chuvosa (6,3%). A prevalencia durante a estacao reprodutiva foi similar a da estacao nao reprodutiva. Especies migratorias nao diferiram das especies residentes na prevalencia de infeccoes por ambos os generos de hemoparasitos. A baixa prevalencia de hemoparasitos encontrada na area de Cerrado estudada e uma das menores ja registrada para comunidades de aves silvestres na regiao Neotropical e no mundo, confirmando os padroes encontrados em estudos anteriores realizados no Brasil e na regiao Neotropical.