T.Gondi Y Toxolasma

Veterinary Parasitology 183 (2012) 377–381

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Veterinary Parasitology
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/vetpar

Short communication

Presence of Toxoplasma gondii and Neospora caninum DNA in the brain
of wild birds
L. Darwich a,b , O. Cabezón c , I. Echeverria a , M. Pabón a , I. Marco c , R. Molina-López a,d ,
O. Alarcia-Alejos e , F.López-Gatius f , S. Lavín c , S. Almería a,b,∗
a

Departament de Sanitat i Anatomia Animals, Facultat de Veterinaria, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, 08193 Barcelona, Spain
Centro de Recerca en Sanitat Animal (CreSA), UAB-IRTA, Campus de la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain
Servei d’Ecopatologia de Fauna Salvatge (SEFaS), Departament de Medicina iCirurgia Animals, Facultat de Veterinària, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona,
Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain
d
Centre de Fauna Salvatge de Torreferrussa, Direcció General del Medi Natural-Forestal Catalana, SA, DMAH (Generalitat de Catalunya), Santa Perpètua de
la Mogoda, Barcelona, Spain
e
Dirección General del Medio Natural. Junta de Castilla y León, Valladolid, Spain
f
Department ofAnimal Production, University of Lleida, Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería Agraria, Lleida, Spain
b
c

article

info

Article history:
Received 10 April 2011
Received in revised form 4 July 2011
Accepted 11 July 2011
Keywords:
Wildbirds
PCR
Toxoplasma gondii
Neospora caninum
Natural intermediate hosts

abstract
Toxoplasma gondii infections are prevalent in many avian speciesand can cause mortality in
some bird hosts. Although T. gondii has been isolated from various species of birds, the role
of many different species of wild birds in the epidemiology of T. gondii remains unknown.
Neospora caninum, a closely related parasite to T. gondii, has been recently confirmed to
infect domestic chickens and wild birds such as house sparrows (Passer domesticus). The
presentstudy reports the presence of T. gondii and N. caninum DNA by PCR in brain tissues
of 14 species of wild birds from Spain. From a total of 200 samples analyzed, 12 samples
(6%) were positive for T. gondii [5 Eurasian jays (Garrulus glandarius), 5 magpies (Pica pica), 1
black kite (Milvus migrans) and 1 Griffon vulture (Gyps fulvus)], while 3 samples (1.5%) were
positive for N. caninum [2magpies and 1 common buzzard (Buteo buteo)]. This is the first
report of detection of T. gondii in magpies, griffon vulture and black kite and of N. caninum
in common buzzard and magpies, extending the list of natural intermediate hosts for T.
gondii and N. caninum infections to these species.
© 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Toxoplasma gondii and Neospora caninum are twoclosely
related, intra-cellular apicomplexan protozoan parasites
of worldwide distribution that have been implicated in
abortion and reproductive disorders in livestock, mainly in
ruminants (Dubey et al., 2007; Dubey, 2009). T. gondii is a

∗ Corresponding author at: Departament de Sanitat i Anatomia Animals, Facultat de Veterinaria, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona,
Bellaterra, 08193Barcelona, Spain. Tel.: +34 93 581 2847;
fax: +34 93 581 2006.
E-mail addresses: Sonia.Almeria@uab.cat, Sonia.Almeria@uab.es
(S. Almería).
0304-4017/$ – see front matter © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.vetpar.2011.07.024

zoonotic agent that infects most species of warm-blooded
animals, including birds (Tenter et al., 2001; Dubey, 2009).
Felids are the only definitivehosts of T. gondii and they
excrete resistant oocysts to the environment. Cats are
thought to become infected with T. gondii via predation on
infected birds and rodents. T. gondii infections are prevalent
in many avian species, and it can cause mortality in some
species of birds (reviewed in Dubey, 2002; Dubey et al.,
2010). Although T. gondii has been isolated from various
species of...