Age- and sex-based variation in helminth infection of helmeted guineafowl (Numida meleagris) with comments on Swainson's spurfowl (Pternistis swainsonii) and Orange River francolin (Scleroptila levaillantoides)

Gastrointestinal nematodes in two galliform birds from South Africa: patterns associated with host sex and age

Parasite ecology has recently focused on elucidating patterns and processes that shape helminth communities in avian hosts. However, helminths parasitizing gamebirds are still poorly understood. Here we describe the gastrointestinal nematode fauna of Swainson's spurfowl, Pternistis swainsonii (Phasianidae) and helmeted guineafowl, Numida meleagris (Numididae), collected at three and four localities, respectively, in South Africa and analyze the prevalence, mean abundance and diversity of their helminth communities. Eleven nematode species were collected from spurfowl, which had a mean number of nematode species per host of 3.01 ± 0.18, whereas guineafowl harboured 15 nematode species, with a mean number of nematode species per host of 3.93 ± 0.12. Focusing on the most prevalent species, we also asked if host sex and/or age were associated with infracommunity structure with regard to nematode counts and species richness, as well as the species and taxonomic composition of infracommunities. While pooling data of nematode species masked the influence of host characteristics on helminth communities, analysis of individual nematode species revealed a number of patterns. In particular, adult female bias was seen in Tetrameres swainsonii in spurfowl and in Allodapa dentigera and Gongylonema congolense in guineafowl; Acuaria gruveli reached higher numbers in adult spurfowl than in juveniles, and helminth infracommunities in juvenile male guineafowl were more species rich than those in adult males. Combined, our results suggest that helminth communities of spurfowl and guineafowl are associated with a complex interplay of numerous factors, including host characteristics, parasite traits and environmental conditions.

Helminthological studies in francolins (Galliformes: Phasianidae) of Sindh, Pakistan with two new species and epidemiological parameters

Francolins are among the very gregarious variety of game birds severely infected by various parasites that may cause an important source for infection transmission in humans by eating them very fondly in the country. During this study, two commonly found francolins species of the region; Francolinus francolinus (Black Francolin) and F. pondicerianus (Grey Francolin), were examined for helminthes fauna. The study deals with the primary survey of helminthic infection occur in the francolin birds (Phasianidae: Perdicinae) with reference to their forage in gut content. It is the first helminthological and epidemiological study in Sindh, Pakistan. At present, a total of 20 birds were examined, out of which 17 were found infected with cestode larvae of two species of genus Cotugnia and genus Raillietina, one species of trematode, Prosthogonimus potentially new species; one new species of acanthocephalan, Mediorhynchus francolinae sp. nov.; one species of nematode, Subulura brumpti (López-Neyra, 1922) were recovered, with new host records. The forage content and comparative incidence of helminth species were also observed and discussed in the current study, which revealed the high prevalence of infection in grey francolins than that of black francolin. The mean intensity of infection relative to the forage in guts of hosts was found significant (P < 0.05), observed 9.14 ± 1.65 in black francolins than in grey francolins (5.8 ± 0.51). The parasitic abundance was compared using Fisher's Exact Test, which showed no significant difference between cestodes and nematodes in the two hosts, however trematode and acanthocephalan was found only in grey francolin. The parasitic frequencies along with the confidence intervals were recorded higher in black francolins by cestodes and nematodes than the black francolins during the present study.

Checklist of acanthocephalan parasites of South Africa

Twenty-one species of acanthocephalans, representative of thirteen genera from ten families of seven orders and three classes, are included in this updated checklist of acanthocephalans in South Africa.

Although South Africa appears to have a less diverse acanthocephalan fauna compared to some other countries such as Iran in Asia, or Brazil in South America, this is probably an artefact of fewer parasitological surveys.

Composition, structure and pattern of helminth assemblages associated with central European herons (Ardeidae)

Helminths parasitizing the ardeid birds are poorly understood, and the majority of studies are limited to checklists and records of novel host-parasite interactions. Here we analyzed the prevalence, intensity and diversity of the helminth component communities associated with an extensive cohort of the five most common Czech herons (Ardea cinerea, Ardea alba, Nycticorax nycticorax, Botaurus stellaris and Ixobrychus minutus) collected in the years 1962-2013. Comparison with Ukrainian datasets supports the existence of local helminth component communities, subject to strong geographic variation. The diversity of the component communities ranged between 37.3±9.6 (A. cinerea) and 2.5±1.1 (I. minutus) species. Similarly, the frequency of particular helminths differed by over one order of magnitude, whereas the helminth load differed by over two orders of magnitude. Typically, the dominant species (Echinochasmus beleocephalus, Uroproctepisthmium bursicola, Posthodiplostomum cuticola, Apharyngostrigea cornu, Desmidocercella numidica and Neogryporhynchus cheilancristrotus) were considered local, with intermediate host species available onsite, as represented by freshwater mollusks. Of the digeneans, 52% of the species likely infected their definitive hosts outside the study area, frequently utilizing invertebrates of salt or brackish waters. For A. cinerea, the largest number of species was in adult males; however the helminth load of the adults was lower than in their juvenile counterparts. This study provides the first systematically collected evidence for the intra-annual changes of the helminth assemblages in herons.