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Piroplasms of New Zealand seabirds

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Abstract

Blood and ectoparasitic ticks were collected from migratory seabirds in New Zealand, including Australasian gannets (n = 13) from two sites and red-billed gulls (n = 9) and white-fronted terns (n = 2) from a third location. Blood smears were screened for parasite presence by microscopy, while DNA from blood samples was subjected to PCR for the presence of tick-transmitted protozoan haemoparasites belonging to the order Piroplasmida. Parasites were identified by comparing small subunit ribosomal RNA (18S rDNA) gene sequences to related sequences on GenBank. Analyses indicated that nine birds were infected with unknown variants of a Babesia poelea-like parasite (recorded as genotypes I and II), while four harboured a piroplasm that was genetically similar to Babesia kiwiensis. There was no parasite stratification by bird species; both the gannets and gulls were positive for all three parasites, while the terns were positive for the B. kiwiensis-like and the B. poelea-like (genotype I) parasites. The B. kiwiensis-like parasite found in the birds was also found in two species of ticks: Carios capensis and Ixodes eudyptidis. This represents the first report of Babesia-positive ticks parasitising seabirds in New Zealand. The lack of host specificity and evidence of wide ranging distributions of the three piroplasm genotypes suggests there is a high degree of haemoparasite transmission occurring naturally between New Zealand seabird populations and species.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to acknowledge Ms. Frances Brigg and Dr. Dave Berryman from the Western Australian State Agricultural Biotechnology Centre (SABC) at Murdoch University for the technical support and Dr. Richard Jakob-Hoff from the New Zealand Centre for Conservation Medicine (NZCCM) at Auckland Zoo for the field assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Vector and Waterborne Pathogen Research Group, School of Veterinary & Life Sciences, Murdoch University, 90 South Street, Murdoch, WA, 6150, Australia

    Andrea Paparini, Linda M. McInnes, Daniela Di Placido, Una M. Ryan & Peter J Irwin

  2. Health Programme ESR NCBID-Wallaceville, P. O. Box 40158, Upper Hutt, 5140, New Zealand

    Graham Mackereth & Richard Clough

  3. Landcare Research, Private Bag 1930, Dunedin, New Zealand

    Daniel M. Tompkins

Authors
  1. Andrea Paparini
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  2. Linda M. McInnes
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  3. Daniela Di Placido
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  4. Graham Mackereth
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  5. Daniel M. Tompkins
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  6. Richard Clough
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  7. Una M. Ryan
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  8. Peter J Irwin
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Peter J Irwin.

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Andrea Paparini and Linda M McInnes contributed equally to this article.

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Paparini, A., McInnes, L.M., Di Placido, D. et al. Piroplasms of New Zealand seabirds. Parasitol Res 113, 4407–4414 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-014-4118-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-014-4118-z

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