Data from: Avian malaria: a new lease of life for an old experimental model to study the evolutionary ecology of Plasmodium

Avian malaria has historically played an important role as a model in the study of human malaria, being a stimulus for the development of medical parasitology. Avian malaria has recently come back to the research scene as a unique animal model to understand the ecology and evolution of the disease, both in the field and in the laboratory. Avian malaria is highly prevalent in birds and mosquitoes around the world and is amenable to laboratory experimentation at each stage of the parasite's life cycle. Here, we take stock of 5 years of experimental laboratory research carried out using Plasmodium relictum SGS1, the most prevalent avian malaria lineage in Europe, and its natural vector, the mosquito Culex pipiens. For this purpose, we compile and analyse data obtained in our laboratory in 14 different experiments. We provide statistical relationships between different infection-related parameters, including parasitaemia, gametocytaemia, host morbidity (anaemia) and transmission rates to mosquitoes. This analysis provides a wide-ranging picture of the within-host and between-host parameters that may bear on malaria transmission and epidemiology.

禽疟（Avian malaria）长期以来作为人类疟疾研究的核心模型，为医学寄生虫学的发展提供了重要助推力。近年来，禽疟再度回归研究视野，作为独特的动物模型用于解析该疾病的生态学特征与演化规律，相关研究涵盖野外调查与实验室实验两大场景。禽疟在全球范围内的鸟类与蚊虫种群中均呈现高流行态势，且疟原虫生命周期的各个阶段均可在实验室环境下开展实验研究。本研究对过去5年间以欧洲最流行的禽疟谱系——残疟原虫（Plasmodium relictum）SGS1株及其天然媒介尖音库蚊（Culex pipiens）为实验对象的实验室研究工作进行了系统梳理。为此，我们整合并分析了本实验室14组独立实验所获取的全部数据，构建了各类感染相关参数间的统计关联，包括虫血症（parasitaemia）水平、配子体血症（gametocytaemia）水平、宿主发病状况（贫血，anaemia）以及向蚊虫的传播率。本分析全面刻画了可能影响疟疾传播与流行病学特征的宿主体内及宿主间各类相关参数的全貌。