ZSL first to document malaria findings
A study, published in Ecology Letters, has identified the factors which influence the success of parasites unintentionally introduced to new environments.
Scientists from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) are the first to document the characteristics of these invading parasites, using malaria in New Zealand bird species. More than 800 exotic and native birds were studied in a range of areas across the Northern part of the country.
Avian Malaria is spread by mosquitoes, just like human malaria, and the parasites spend part of their lives in the red blood cells of birds. They detected parasite infection by extracting DNA from blood and analysing it to look at specific segments of genes. They then looked in more detail at the characteristics of the parasites they found to see if they had features that made them more likely to be present in bird hosts in New Zealand.
ZSL’s Dr John Ewen said: “We have found a surprisingly high diversity of malaria parasites in New Zealand, including two found nowhere else in the world. However, most parasites we found are recent arrivals, probably from infected birds released by humans. They tend to be widespread and common strains, which can infect a broad range of bird hosts. These findings will help us understand the what, when and how of exotic parasite introductions globally.”
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