Gastrointestinal helminths of two populations of wild pigeons (Columba livia) in Brazil

Abstract The present study analyzed gastrointestinal helminth communities in 265 wild pigeons (Columba livia) living in the municipalities of São Paulo and Tatuí, state of São Paulo, Brazil, over a one-year period. The birds were caught next to grain storage warehouses and were necropsied. A total of 790 parasites comprising one nematode species and one cestode genus were recovered from 110 pigeons, thus yielding an overall prevalence of 41.5%, mean intensity of infection of 7.2 ± 1.6 (range 1-144) and discrepancy index of 0.855. Only 15 pigeons (5.7%) presented mixed infection. The helminths isolated from the birds were Ascaridia columbae (Ascaridiidae) and Raillietina sp. (Davaineidae). The birds’ weights differed according to sex but this did not influence the intensity of infection. The overall prevalence and intensity of infection did not differ between the sexes, but the prevalence was higher among the birds from Tatuí (47.8%). The gastrointestinal helminth community of C. livia was characterized in the two areas studied and parasite homogeneity was observed over the 12 months analyzed at both locations. These results make contributions to the current literature on health aspects of wild C. livia populations.摘要 本研究针对巴西圣保罗州圣保罗市与塔图伊市境内的265只野生原鸽（Columba livia）开展了为期一年的胃肠道蠕虫群落分析。受试鸽于谷物仓储仓库周边捕获后进行剖检。共从110只原鸽体内检出790条寄生虫，涵盖1种线虫与1个绦虫属；整体感染率为41.5%，平均感染强度为7.2±1.6（范围1~144），差异指数为0.855。仅15只原鸽（占比5.7%）存在混合感染情况。本次分离得到的蠕虫为鸽蛔虫（Ascaridia columbae，蛔科Ascaridiidae）与未定种赖利绦虫（Raillietina sp.，戴维科Davaineidae）。受试原鸽的体重存在性别差异，但该差异并未对感染强度产生影响。整体感染率与感染强度不存在性别差异，但塔图伊市捕获的原鸽感染率更高（47.8%）。本研究对两处采样区域内原鸽的胃肠道蠕虫群落特征进行了表征，且两处采样点在12个月的观测周期内均呈现出寄生虫群落的同质性。本研究结果为当前野生原鸽种群健康相关的学术文献提供了新的参考依据。