Occurrence of parasitic protozoa in wild waterfowl in southern coastal Caspian sea lagoons

BACKGROUND: Protozoa are common in poultry and otherbirds and can cause mild to severe disease. OBJECTIVES: Thisstudy was concerned with the prevalence of parasitic protozoa inwild waterfowl in Caspian sea lagoons in the North of Iran.METHODS:Atotal of 293 waterfowl belonging to various generaincluding Tadorna tadorna (common shelduck),Aythya fuligula(Tufted duck), Aythya ferina (Common puchard), Spatulaclypeata (Shoveler), Anser anser (greylag goose), CygnusCygnus (Whooper Swan), Anas strepera (Gadwall), AnasPenelope (Eurasian Widgeon), Anas crecca (common teal), andAnas platyrhynchos (mallard) were sampled and tested forintestinal, tracheal, and blood protozoa between winter 2010 andspring 2011. RESULTS: The results showed that 184 birds of 293(62.8%) harbored protozoan parasites. The highest prevalence ofprotozoan contamination belonged to Giardia spp (24.2%) andthe lowest belonged to Haemoproteus spp. (6.1%). Thricomunasgallinea, Plasmodium spp., and Cryptosporidium spp. werefound in 7.2%, 8.2%, and 17% of waterfowl, respectively.Moreover, statistical analyses showed that the highest rate ofgiardiosis was in female Aythya fuligula (43.75%). However,tricomuniasis belonged to Anas crecca (30.5%). On the otherhand, female Cygnus cygnus had the highest rate ofcryptosporidiosis (44.7%), and more infection to Haemoproteusand Plasmodium spp. were observed in Anas platyrhynchos,concurrently. CONCLUSIONS: Migration of various species ofwaterfowl toward the northern parts of Iran has an importantimpact on parasitic diseases in birds and human in these regions.