1. Extension of the Avian Host Range of Collyriclosis in Europe
- Author
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Monika Dressel, Fábia Azevedo, María Casero, Stamatios Alan Tahas, Jiljí Sitko, Ivan Literak, Paula Grest, Anastasia Diakou, Carla Maia, Samuel Frei, Felix Grimm, Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical (IHMT), Global Health and Tropical Medicine (GHTM), Vector borne diseases and pathogens (VBD), University of Zurich, and Tahas, Stamatios A
- Subjects
0301 basic medicine ,10253 Department of Small Animals ,040301 veterinary sciences ,10184 Institute of Veterinary Pathology ,Apus apus ,Trematode Infections ,Host Specificity ,Sitta europaea ,Birds ,0403 veterinary science ,Collyriclum faba ,03 medical and health sciences ,Apus ,Pericloacal cysts ,SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being ,Germany ,biology.animal ,Passer domesticus ,Animals ,Parasite hosting ,Apus melba ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,Phoenicurus ochruros ,Portugal ,630 Agriculture ,Ecology ,biology ,Bird Diseases ,Intermediate host ,04 agricultural and veterinary sciences ,030108 mycology & parasitology ,biology.organism_classification ,Passerine ,Apus pallidus ,Europe ,Bythinella austriaca ,1105 Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,Infectious Diseases ,570 Life sciences ,Parasitology ,2303 Ecology ,Switzerland ,Nuthatch - Abstract
We describe cases of collyriclosis in apodiform and passeriform birds in Portugal, Switzerland, and Germany. We extend the host range of Collyriculm faba to include apodiform birds ( Apus apus , Apus melba , and Apus pallidus ) and the passerine Sitta europaea (Eurasian Nuthatch). Infections varied in severity from an incidental finding to severe debilitation and death. The infection route remains unclear with the apparent absence from Germany, Portugal, and Switzerland of the first intermediate host of C. faba, the aquatic gastropod Bythinella austriaca, implying that other organisms might be involved in the parasite's life cycle. Furthermore, the detection of C. faba cysts in very young passerine birds may indicate an infection during the nestling stage and a rapid development of parasite-containing subcutaneous cysts. This series of cases highlights an increased geographic range into Portugal and the potential debilitating nature of a parasite of migratory birds in Europe. However, given the rarity of cases, collyriclosis does not seem to present an important threat to migratory species preservation. publishersversion published
- Published
- 2017