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Haemoparasites in red-legged partridge (Alectoris rufa): first record of Haemoproteus sp. in Italy?

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Abstract

During a health survey in the Province of Alessandria (NW Italy) 267 free ranging red-legged partridge (Alectoris rufa; 137 males and 130 females) were captured in 2009 (n = 101), 2010 (n = 130) and 2011 (n = 36). After biometric data and blood samples collection, animals were released on site. Blood samples were used for the preparation of blood smears. A total of 1.5% of smears presented parasites with a light blue finely granular cytoplasm in red blood cells. The parasites were identified, on the basis of their morphology (no molecular identification was possible), as being Haemoproteus sp. juvenile forms. The infestation prevalence was 0.8% in 2010 and 8.3% in 2011. No parasite was observed in 2009. The size of the infested erythrocytes was not altered (P > 0.05) and the nuclear displacement ratio was 0.8 ± 0.2. All the birds were apparently in good health status. To our knowledge this is the first description of Haemoproteus sp. in red-legged partridge, and more in general in birds belonging to Galliformes Order in Italy.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank ATF (Ambiente Territorio Formazione) for financial support; Renzo Ceria, Benito Raschia, Mario Traverso, Franco Volpara (manager directors of Alessandria restocking areas) for field work and logistic support.

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

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Author notes

  1. Paolo Tizzani and Angela Fanelli have contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Veterinary Science, University of Turin, V. Leonardo da Vinci 44, 10095, Grugliasco, TO, Italy

    Paolo Tizzani, Angela Fanelli, Annarita Molinar Min & Pier Giuseppe Meneguz

  2. Stazzano Civic Museum of Natural History, Stazzano, AL, Italy

    Ennio Negri & Fabrizio Silvano

  3. Turin, Italy

    Arianna Menzano

Authors
  1. Paolo Tizzani
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  2. Angela Fanelli
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  3. Ennio Negri
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  4. Fabrizio Silvano
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  5. Arianna Menzano
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  6. Annarita Molinar Min
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  7. Pier Giuseppe Meneguz
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Correspondence to Paolo Tizzani.

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None of the authors has any financial or personal relationships that could inappropriately influence or bias the content of the paper.

Ethical approval

Approval on the capture and manipulation of animals for scientific purposes was provided by the Department of Environment, Province of Alessandria (Italy), with authorization number 20090031830.

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Tizzani, P., Fanelli, A., Negri, E. et al. Haemoparasites in red-legged partridge (Alectoris rufa): first record of Haemoproteus sp. in Italy?. J Parasit Dis 44, 462–466 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12639-020-01211-x

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