Health status of free-living pigeons in the city of Santiago

Abstract

A total of 100 free-living urban pigeons (Columba livia) were captured in the city of Santiago, Chile, in order to evaluate, for the first time, their health status. Negligible antibody titres (1 to 3 log2) were detected in 22% of the birds against a strain of the paramyxovirus (PMV) serotype 1. No pigeons had antibodies against PMV serotype 7 and avian influenza. Salmonella sp. belonging to serogroups B and D were isolated from the intestinal tract of three pigeons (3%). The protozoa Haemoproteus columbae, Plasmodium sp., and Leucocytozoon sp. were not detected in any pigeons. Trichomonas gallinae was detected in 11%, without observation of either clinical signs or gross pathological changes at necropsy. Sixty-seven percent of the birds showed the presence of the chewing lice Columbicola columbae and Campanulotes bidentatus compar, and 1% harboured the mite Laminosioptes cysticola. Seven species of nematodes were identified. The frequency at which each species was detected was; Tetrameres sp. (14%), Capillaria annulata (1%), Capillaria columbae (11%), Capillaria obsignata (1%), Ascaridia columbae (5%), Dispharynx spiralis (2%), and Gongylonema ingluvicola (2%). The class Cestoda, found in one pigeon, was represented by the species Aporina delafondi. No trematodes were detected in the sampled birds.