Abstract
Background and Aim:Ecuador is a hugely diverse country, but information on infectious diseases in local wild animals is scarce. The aim of this study was to screen the presence of blood parasites in free-ranging wild animals admitted to the Wildlife Hospital at Universidad San Francisco de Quito, from April 2012 to January 2019.Materials and Methods:We identified blood parasites by microscopic observation of blood smears from free-ranging wildlife species that attended the Wildlife Hospital of Universidad San Francisco de Quito (Ecuador) from April 2012 to January 2019.Results:The microscopic evaluations of animals as potential reservoirs for vector-borne zoonotic blood parasites revealed the presence of Anaplasma spp., Babesia spp., Ehrlichia spp., Hepatozoon spp., microfilaria, Mycoplasma spp., and Trypanosoma spp. in previously unreported wildlife species. In addition, we performed a systematic review to understand the current knowledge gaps in the context of these findings.Conclusion:Our data contribute to the knowledge of blood parasites in wildlife from Ecuador. Furthermore, the potential transmission of these parasites to humans and domestic animals, current anthropogenic environmental changes in the region, and the lack of information on this suggest the importance of our results and warrant further investigations on infectious diseases in animals and humans and their relationship with environmental health as key domains of the One Health concept.
Highlights
From an ecological perspective, a parasite lives in association with another organism [1]
41 reports matched the hemoparasite findings in the 23 free-ranging wildlife species reported here (Supplementary data can be available from the corresponding author)
We described vector-borne zoonotic blood parasite diversity in wildlife species from Ecuador and highlighted the lack of information in the region
Summary
A parasite lives in association with another organism [1]. Parasites that live in the host’s blood are called blood parasites (hemoparasites), which include several species of the genera Anaplasma, Babesia, Ehrlichia, Haemoproteus, Hepatozoon, Leishmania, Leucocytozoon, Mycoplasma, Plasmodium, Schellackia, and Trypanosoma, among others [2,3,4,5,6]. Blood parasites are globally distributed and infect a wide variety of amphibians [8,9], reptiles [10], birds [11,12], and mammals, including humans [13]. The aim of this study was to screen the presence of blood parasites in free-ranging wild animals admitted to the Wildlife Hospital at Universidad San Francisco de Quito, from April 2012 to January 2019
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