Prevalence andGenotypes Circulating in Five Wild Corvid Species from Romania.

Abstract

The apicomplexan parasitecan potentially infect all warm-blooded animals, including birds, which, due to their high dispersal capabilities, are considered a significant candidate group of sentinel animals that reveal environmental contamination with this protozoan. In the present study, the serologic and molecular prevalences ofinfection were determined in 333 corvids from Romania. Paired meat juice (n = 333) and heart samples (n = 244) were collected and analyzed using the modified agglutination test for antibodies, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for DNA, and SAG2 molecular marker sequencing for genotyping. The overallantibodies prevalence was 19.5%, with 48.1% infected jackdaws, 72.8% rooks, 89.7% hooded crows, 77.5% magpies, and 42.9% jays. Of 244 heart samples analyzed with PCR amplification, only 3 (1.2%) resulted positive and were shown to belong to genotype III through the sequencing of the SAG2 amplicon. This is the first extensive study on.in crows from Romania.