Parasitoses in pheasants (Phasianus colchicus) in confined systems

Samples were obtained from pheasants (Phasianus colchicus) bred at the Game Management Centre (GMC) in Rozhanovce to determine the endo- and ectoparasites presented in the birds. Samples were collected monthly. Within the period from 2000 to 2004 1030 samples of pheasant’s faeces were examined. Coprological analysis of faeces revealed the presence of Eimeria spp. and eggs of nematode (Capillaria spp., Syngamus trachea, Heterakis isolonche, Ascaridia spp. and Trichostrongylus tenuis). Tissue parasites were examined in 60 pheasants; in 18 samples (30.0 %) microcysts of Sarcocystis spp. were found. Two species of mites Dermanyssus gallinae, Ornithonyssus sylvarium (Acarina, Mesostigmata) and one species of burrowing mite Knemidocoptes mutans (Astigmata) were collected. Four species of chewing lice (Phtiraptera: Amblycera, Ischnocera) were described for the first time in the Slovak Republic: Goniocotes chrysocephalus, Goniodes colchici, Amyrsidea perdicis, Lipeurus maculosus. Chewing lice in game birds had been previously described in the Czech Republic and Poland; they had not been reported previously in the Slovak Republic.