Mémoire

Plasmodium spp. in raptors on the Eurasian-African migration route

Plasmodium spp. de rapaces en migration entre l’Eurasie et l’Afrique

¹ Department of Animal Sciences, Faculty of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences, of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot 76100, Israel
² International Birding & Research Center, P.O.B. 774, Eilat, Israel
³ Parasitologie Comparée et Modèles Expérimentaux (USM 307), Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, 61, rue Buffon, 75231 Paris Cedex 05, France

^* Correspondence: I. Paperna, Department of Animal Sciences, Faculty of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences, of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot 76100, Israel. Tel.: 972-8-9489945 – Fax: 972-8-9465763. E-mail: ipaperna@agri.huji.ac.il

Received: 21 February 2007
Accepted: 15 October 2007

Abstract

Examination of blood smears obtained from raptors trapped while on migration at Eilat, Israel, demonstrated Plasmodium infection in Accipiter brevipes and Buteo buteo. The following species are described, from A. brevipes: Plasmodium alloelongatum n. sp., P. accipiteris n. sp. and from B. buteo: P. buteonis n. sp. and Plasmodium sp. for which we lack sufficient data for adequate species description. Overall prevalence of infection with Plasmodium spp. was very low: among 38 examined A. brevipes 5 % and among 56 B. buteo 3.6 %.

Résumé

L’examen de prélèvements sanguins effectués chez des rapaces capturés et bagués à Eilat (Israel), au cours de leur migration, a révélé la présence de Plasmodium spp chez Accipiter brevipes et Buteo buteo. Les espèces suivantes sont décrites: Plasmodium alloelongatum n. sp. et P. accipiteris n. sp. chez A. brevipes, P. buteonis n. sp. et Plasmodium sp. chez B. buteo.