A single Haemoproteus plataleae haplotype is widespread in white ibis (Eudocimus albus) from urban and rural sites in southern Florida

Michael J Yabsley; Sarah M Coker; Catharine N Welch; Kayla B Garrett; Maureen Murray; Ryan Grunert; Julia S Seixas; Whitney M Kistler; Shannon E Curry; Henry C Adams; Charlie S Nakatsu; Liandrie Swanepoel; Seth T Wyckoff; Troy M Koser; Elizabeth Kurimo-Beechuk; Ellen Haynes; Sonia M Hernandez

doi:10.1016/j.ijppaw.2023.06.010

A single Haemoproteus plataleae haplotype is widespread in white ibis (Eudocimus albus) from urban and rural sites in southern Florida

Int J Parasitol Parasites Wildl. 2023 Jun 29:21:269-276. doi: 10.1016/j.ijppaw.2023.06.010. eCollection 2023 Aug.

Authors

Michael J Yabsley^{1

2

3}, Sarah M Coker^{1

2}, Catharine N Welch^{2

4}, Kayla B Garrett^{1

2}, Maureen Murray^{1

2}, Ryan Grunert², Julia S Seixas^{1

2}, Whitney M Kistler⁵, Shannon E Curry², Henry C Adams^{1

2}, Charlie S Nakatsu², Liandrie Swanepoel², Seth T Wyckoff^{1

2}, Troy M Koser^{1

2}, Elizabeth Kurimo-Beechuk^{1

2}, Ellen Haynes², Sonia M Hernandez^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA.
² Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA.
³ Center for Ecology of Infectious Diseases, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA.
⁴ Common Ground Ecology, Tampa, FL, USA.
⁵ School of Mathematics and Sciences, Lincoln Memorial University, Harrogate, TN, USA.

Abstract

The American white ibis (Eudocimus albus), a common bird species in Florida, has become increasingly urban, with many populations relying heavily on urban and suburban habitats, which may alter parasite transmission. Parasites of ibis, especially haemosporidians, are understudied. Avian haemosporidia can have a wide range of impacts on birds, including decreased reproductive success or increased mortality. Because southern Florida is subtropical and has a high diversity of potential vectors for haemosporidia, we hypothesized that there will be a high prevalence and genetic diversity of haemosporidia in white ibis. A total of 636 ibis from South Florida were sampled from 2010 to 2022, and blood samples were tested for haemosporidia by examination of Giemsa-stained thin blood smears and/or nested PCRs targeting the cytochrome b gene. A total of 400 (62.9%, 95% CI 59-66.7%) ibis were positive for parasites that were morphologically identified as Haemoproteus plataleae. Sequences of 302 positives revealed a single haplotype of Haemoproteus (EUDRUB01), which was previously reported from white ibis in South Florida and captive scarlet ibis (E. ruber) in Brazil. No Plasmodium or Leucocytozoon infections were detected. Parasitemias of the 400 positive birds were very low (average 0.084%, range 0.001%-2.16% [although only 2 birds had parasitemias >1%]). Prevalence and parasitemias were similar for males and females (68% vs. 61.6% and 0.081% vs. 0.071%, respectively). Prevalence in juveniles was lower compared with adults (52% vs. 67.4%) but parasitemias were higher in juveniles (0.117% vs. 0.065%). This data shows that H. plataleae is common in ibis in South Florida. Although parasitemias were generally low, additional research is needed to determine if this parasite has subclinical effects on ibis, if additional haplotypes or parasite species infect ibis in other regions of their range, or if H. plataleae is pathogenic for other sympatric avian species.

Keywords: Avian malaria; Birds; Haemosporida; Molecular characterization; Pelecaniformes; Threskiornithidae; Wading birds; Wildlife.