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A new pathogen spillover from domestic to wild animals: Plasmodium juxtanucleare infects free-living passerines in Brazil

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 May 2018

Francisco C. Ferreira-Junior Open the ORCID record for Francisco C. Ferreira-Junior [Opens in a new window] ,
Daniela de Angeli Dutra ,
Patrícia Silveira ,
Richard Campos Pacheco ,
Rute Witter ,
Dirceu Guilherme de Souza Ramos ,
M. Andreína Pacheco ,
Ananias A. Escalante  and
Érika M. Braga
Francisco C. Ferreira-Junior*
Affiliation:
Departamento de Parasitologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil
Daniela de Angeli Dutra
Affiliation:
Departamento de Parasitologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil
Patrícia Silveira
Affiliation:
Programa de Pós-graduação em Biologia Celular, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil
Richard Campos Pacheco
Affiliation:
Programa de Pós-graduação em Ciências Veterinárias, Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso, Cuiabá, MT, Brazil
Rute Witter
Affiliation:
Programa de Pós-graduação em Ciências Veterinárias, Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso, Cuiabá, MT, Brazil
Dirceu Guilherme de Souza Ramos
Affiliation:
Unidade Acadêmica Especial de Ciências Agrárias, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Jataí, GO, Brazil
M. Andreína Pacheco
Affiliation:
Department of Biology/IGEM/Temple University, Philadelphia, USA
Ananias A. Escalante
Affiliation:
Department of Biology/IGEM/Temple University, Philadelphia, USA
Érika M. Braga*
Affiliation:
Departamento de Parasitologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil
*
Author for correspondence: Francisco C. Ferreira-Junior and Érika M. Braga, E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]
Author for correspondence: Francisco C. Ferreira-Junior and Érika M. Braga, E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]
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Abstract

Habitat modification may facilitate the emergence of novel pathogens, and the expansion of agricultural frontiers make domestic animals important sources of pathogen spillover to wild animals. We demonstrate for the first time that Plasmodium juxtanucleare, a widespread parasite from domestic chickens, naturally infects free-living passerines. We sampled 68 wild birds within and at the border of conservation units in central Brazil composed by Cerrado, a highly threatened biome. Seven out of 10 passerines captured in the limits of a protected area with a small farm were infected by P. juxtanucleare as was confirmed by sequencing a fragment of the parasite's cytochrome b. Blood smears from these positive passerines presented trophozoites, meronts and gametocytes compatible with P. juxtanucleare, meaning these birds are competent hosts for this parasite. After these intriguing results, we sampled 30 backyard chickens managed at the area where P. juxtanucleare-infected passerines were captured, revealing one chicken infected by the same parasite lineage. We sequenced the almost complete mitochondrial genome from all positive passerines, revealing that Brazilian and Asian parasites are closely related. P. juxtanucleare can be lethal to non-domestic hosts under captive and rehabilitation conditions, suggesting that this novel spillover may pose a real threat to wild birds.

Keywords

Avian malariahabitat modificationhaemosporidianshost–parasite interactionsemerging infectious diseasesparasites
Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 145 , Issue 14 , December 2018 , pp. 1949 - 1958
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Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

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