Parasites of wild houbara bustards in the United Arab Emirates

Abstract

Seven free-living houbara bustards (Chlamydotis undulata macqueeni) wild-caught in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) were examined for helminth parasites. Of five birds investigated post mortem, one was free of gastrointestinal helminths. Two other birds expelled worms following clinical examination and anthelmintic treatment. This is the first report of the parasites of free-living, as opposed to captive, houbara bustards in the UAE. In infested wild birds, fewer species of helminths were recovered than had been found in captive birds and those species present had also been found in captive houbaras. Despite heavy worm burdens, the infested birds were in good condition. Two species of cestodes (Otiditaenia conoideis, Hispaniolepis falsata), two of acanthocephalans (Centrorhynchus lancea, Mediorhynchus taeniatus) and two of nematodes (Hartertia rotundata, Allodapa sp.) were recovered. Histopathological examination of tissue samples from the intestine of three birds revealed no significant pathological changes attributable to the presence of parasites but only localized responses at the sites of parasite attachment.

Causes and consequences of post‐growth age‐dependent differences in small intestine size in a migratory sandpiper (Calidris mauri, Western Sandpiper)

“…1996). Sub‐lethal pathologies associated with cestode infection include localized inflammation at the site of attachment, raised lymphoid nodules, denuded mucosal epithelium accompanied by hyper‐regenerative response, and hypertrophy of the muscularis (Jones et al . 1996a,b).…”

Individual condition and inflammatory response to PHA in the subterranean rodent Ctenomys talarum (Talas tuco-tuco): A multivariate approach

“…Thus, in general, we expect a negative association between the inflammatory response and infection (parasite load, leukocyte counts). However, given that immune responses against hematophagous ectoparasites are mainly cellmediated (Jones et al, 1996;Khokhlova et al, 2004) and that PHA also stimulates this immune branch of the immune system, we expected higher magnitudes of inflammation in response to PHA in individuals with greater loads of fleas, hematophagous mites or lice, as consequence of a potential synergism between immune challenges.…”