Avian Haemosporidian Infection in Wildlife Rehabilitation Centres of Portugal: Causes, Consequences, and Genetic Diversity

Abstract

In the last decade, over 40% of bird species in Europe have experienced poor and bad conservation status, with more than 30% of bird species in mainland Portugal threatened with extinction. Along with anthropogenic factors, parasites and pathogens such as avian haemosporidians have been suggested to be responsible for these avian population declines. Wildlife rehabilitation centres play an essential role in species conservation and preservation. Moreover, animals admitted for rehabilitation can provide valuable information regarding transmission and pathogenicity of many diseases that affect wild birds that are rarely sampled in nature. However, reports of haemosporidians in captive birds are still limited. Here, we explored the prevalence and genetic diversity of avian haemosporidians in 89 birds from 29 species admitted to rehabilitation centres in Portugal, showing an overall infection prevalence of 30.3%. The prevalence of infection was higher in Strigiformes and in birds admitted to rehabilitation centres due to debilitating diseases. Remarkably, 30% of the infected bird species have not been found to harbour malaria parasites in preceding studies. We detected 15 different haemosporidian lineages infecting a third of bird species sampled. Notably, 2 out of these 15 detected haemosporidian lineages have not been obtained previously in other studies. Furthermore, we also identified nine new host–parasite interactions representing new host records for these haemosporidian parasites. Finally, our results revealed that birds infected with haemosporidians require longer rehabilitation treatments, which increase the economic costs for rehabilitation and may impair their survival prospects. These findings emphasise the importance of integrating haemosporidian infection considerations into rehabilitation protocols, highlighting the challenges posed by these infections in avian conservation and rehabilitation, including economic and logistical demands.