Abstract
Parasites of the genus Haemoproteus are vector-borne avian haemosporidia commonly found in bird species of the world. Haemoproteus infections are typically considered relatively benign in birds. However, some Haemoproteus species cause severe disease and mortality, especially for captive birds removed from their original habitat. In September 2018, a captive 15-year-old snowy owl (Bubo scandiacus), kept in a zoological garden of Japan, died subacutely after presenting leg dysfunction. This case showed significantly low PCV and elevated AST, ALT, CK, and LDH values. Many megalomeronts with prominent morphological characteristics of Haemoproteus were observed in the left leg muscles. Those megalomeronts exhibited multilocular structures and were internally filled with merozoites. A new lineage of Haemoproteus was detected by subsequent PCR for the cytochrome b (cytb) gene of avian haemosporidia from DNA extracted from several organ tissues. The detected lineage was classified in the subgenus Parahaemoproteus and was similar to those from the wild birds inhabiting the region including the study area, suggesting that this snowy owl likely acquired its infection from wild birds. This is the first report of a fatal case of a captive bird with a locally transmitted Haemoproteus infection in Japan. We considered the pathogenicity of this infection in conjunction with the clinical course and hematology results. We surmise that snowy owls may be particularly susceptible to infection with Haemoproteus parasites, and warming northern temperatures may exacerbate the overall health of these and other high latitude birds. Further research into the prevalence of Haemoproteus in wild birds near zoological gardens and potential biting midge vectors is necessary for the ex situ conservation of introduced birds.
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We would like to thank the staff of Tobu Zoo for helping the sample collection.
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This study was partially supported by the Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (KAKENHI nos. 26450484) from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS).
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The study concept and design were performed by YS and MY. KO collected all samples. MY conducted molecular analysis. HK carried out histopathological diagnosis. HS and YE helped conducting histopathological diagnosis and molecular experiments. YS and RS supervised the project. MY, HK, YS, and RS wrote the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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All procedures for collecting samples from this bird were performed in accordance with the ethical standards of the Act on Welfare and Management of Animals 1973, Japan.
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Yoshimoto, M., Ozawa, K., Kondo, H. et al. A fatal case of a captive snowy owl (Bubo scandiacus) with Haemoproteus infection in Japan. Parasitol Res 120, 277–288 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-020-06972-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-020-06972-1