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New insights into avian malaria infections in New Zealand seabirds

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Abstract

The past few years have been marked by a drastic increase in pathogen spillover events. However, the extent and taxonomic range at which these events take place remain as crucial unanswered questions in many host–pathogen systems. Here, we take advantage of opportunistically sampled bird carcasses from the South Island of New Zealand, with the aim of identifying Plasmodium spp. infections in native and endemic New Zealand seabird species. In total, six samples from five bird species were positive for avian malaria, including four of which were successfully sequenced and identified as Plasmodium matutinum LINN1 lineage. These results provide new Plasmodium infection records in seabirds, including the first documented case in Procellariiformes in New Zealand, highlighting the potential disease risk to these species.

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Acknowledgements

This project was supported by a collaboration between Komiti Taoka Tuku Iho, the Department of Conservation, Dunedin Wildlife Hospital, Otago Museum, and researchers from the Otago University. We thank and acknowledge mana whenua and local rūnanga (Te Rūnanga o Ōtākou, Te Rūnanga o Moeraki, and Kāti Huirapa Rūnaka ki Puketeraki) for their support in our disease screening process of local seabirds around Otago. We are grateful to Francois Tumahai and Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Waewae for access to Westland Petrel samples and other bird species collected in their takiwā. We thank the Department of Conservation’s Conservation Services Programme for access to seabird specimens collected through Wildlife Management International Limited (WMIL) as part of the Department’s necropsy programme, and staff at WMIL, particularly Biz Bell. We also thank the Dunedin Wildlife Hospital and Wildlife Management International for the use of their facilities and access to deceased specimens. Thanks to Tania King and Bronwen Presswell for their support in the lab, Laryssa Howe for feedback on local case studies, and Robert Poulin for his supervisory support of JB and AF during this project.

Funding

JB was supported through the Cawthron Institute’s Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, Emerging Aquatic Diseases Endeavour grant, award number CAWX2207. CNN was supported by a Strategic Science Investment Funding from the New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment awarded to Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research. AF was supported by a grant from the New Zealand Department of Conservation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology, University of Otago, 340 Great King St, Dunedin, 9016, New Zealand

    Jerusha Bennett

  2. Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research, PO Box 69040, Lincoln, 7640, New Zealand

    Chris N. Niebuhr

  3. New Zealand Department of Conservation, 265 Princes St, Dunedin, 9016, New Zealand

    Clément Lagrue

  4. New Zealand Department of Conservation, Munro Building, 186 Bridge Street, Nelson, 7010, New Zealand

    Karen L. Middlemiss

  5. Yellow-Eyed Penguin Trust, 265 Princes St, Dunedin, 9016, New Zealand

    Trudi Webster

  6. Department of Integrative Biology, 501 Life Sciences West, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, 74078, USA

    Antoine Filion

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  1. Jerusha Bennett
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  4. Karen L. Middlemiss
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  5. Trudi Webster
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  6. Antoine Filion
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Contributions

JB and AF conceived the idea. JB, CNN, CL, KLM, TW, and AF designed the study. JB and AF collected the data and wrote the first draft of the manuscript. All authors were involved in data analyses, contributed critically to the drafts, and gave final approval for publication.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Antoine Filion.

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Ethical approval

This work complies with the New Zealand Department of Conservation permit 65658-DOA to hold and dissect deceased New Zealand birds.

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This study does not involve human research in any means. As such, no consent to participate is needed.

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All authors have agreed in the publication of the data collected. As this study does not involve human research, no consent from individuals is needed.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Bennett, J., Niebuhr, C.N., Lagrue, C. et al. New insights into avian malaria infections in New Zealand seabirds. Parasitol Res 123, 184 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-024-08210-4

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