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Species of Tetratrichomonas gallinarum and Trichomonas gallinae , are found in the digestive tract of birds. To investigate trichomonads of a lower intestinal tract of native chickens, we examined 72 feces samples from the different life stages of fowl species in Khorramabad County, Lorestan Province, Western Iran. Using microscopical examination, out of 72 collected samples, 26 (31.6%) bird feces samples were found infected with a trichomonad similar to T. gallinarum . A 527-bp fragment of 18S rRNA gene of T. gallinarum was amplified by PCR. The 18S constructed phylogeny indicates two different clades within T. gallinarum, suggesting that commensal T. gallinarum -like of the bird hosts may be the reason for the genetic divergence in T. gallinarum species complex., Competing Interests: Conflict of interestThe authors declare that they have no conflict of interest., (© Indian Society for Parasitology 2019.)

Histomonas meleagridis is a flagellate protozoan parasite living in the cecum of birds digestive system and is the causative agent of histomoniasis. In this study 110 poultry fresh stool samples were assessed in order to detect H. meleagridis , and egg or adult worm of Heterakis gallinarum in Lorestan province, Iran. The results showed that the prevalence of H. meleagridis was 31%. Also, 19.5% of infected poultry had a watery stool. The eggs or adult worms of H. gallinarum were not seen in any of the samples. The results showed the high prevalence of this parasite, and the factors such as temporary hosts, susceptible hosts, and cloacal transmission with the involvement of water containing the parasite are the effective risk factors in prevalence. It is better to considered H. meleagridis as waterborne parasites, so further epidemiological studies on other birds are suggested to determine the parasite pathogenic strains using molecular methods.

Parasitic infections in birds are omnipresent, even when they occur in low amounts, may result in subclinical diseases. There aren't any studies, based on Iranian data, investigating the prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections in some birds' species. We conducted a cross-sectional study between December 2011 and December 2012. The fecal samples were taken from 451 birds including hen, turkey, sparrow, pigeon and decorative birds. The samples screened for intestinal parasitic infections using direct smear, formalin-ether concentration technique, modified Ziehl-Neelsen staining, Culture in RPMI 1640 medium, sporulation with potassium dichromate and Trichrome and Giemsa staining. Out of 451 birds' species, 157 (34.8 %), were infected with one or more type of intestinal parasites. We identified two nematode, two cestoda species and five protozoan parasites species. No trematodes were found in the samples studied. The parasites identified among birds involved Raillietina spp. (4.2 %) and Eimeria spp. (7.1 %) were the most common helminthes and protozoa respectively. From total of birds study, 12 (2.7 %) and 6 (1.3 %) have two and three mixed infections respectively. Intestinal parasitic infections are common in birds in west Iran. The future studies are needed in order to determine to which extent the infections influence mortality and performance of the birds.