Effect of Breeding Season on Haemosporidian Infections in Domestic Chickens
by
and
Nuela Manka’a Che-Ajuyo
1,2, 
Xiaodong Rao
3,
Boye Liu
1,4,
Zhuqing Deng
1,
Lu Dong
1,* and
Wei Liang
2,* 1
Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity and Ecological Engineering, College of Life Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
2
Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Ecology of Tropical Islands, Key Laboratory of Tropical Animal and Plant Ecology of Hainan Province, College of Life Sciences, Hainan Normal University, Haikou 571158, China
3
College of Forestry, Wuzhishan National Long Term Forest Ecosystem Monitoring Research Station, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, China
4
Shaanxi Institute of Zoology, Xi’an 710032, China
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Vet. Sci. 2022, 9(12), 681; https://doi.org/10.3390/vetsci9120681
Submission received: 1 October 2022
/
Revised: 27 November 2022
/
Accepted: 3 December 2022
/
Published: 7 December 2022
(This article belongs to the Section Veterinary Microbiology, Parasitology and Immunology)
Simple Summary
A total of 122 chickens (66 chickens during the breeding season and 56 chickens during the non-breeding season) from tropical Hainan Island, China were sampled to test for haemosporidian infections. We showed that chickens have a higher incidence of haemosporidian infection and a greater diversity of haemosporidian parasite lineages during the breeding season relative to the non-breeding season.
Abstract
Reproduction is believed to contribute to the frequently observed seasonal cycles in parasite loads in many organisms, as an investment in reproduction by the host could result in a higher susceptibility to parasites. In this study, we examined the impact of breeding season on haemosporidian infection in free-range chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus). We sampled a total of 122 chickens (66 chickens during the breeding season of April 2017 and 56 chickens during the non-breeding season of January 2017) to test for haemosporidian infections. The result showed that 56 out of 66 chickens examined during the breeding season tested positive for parasites (84.8% parasite prevalence), whereas 39 out of 56 chickens tested positive for parasites during the non-breeding season (69.6% parasite prevalence). Moreover, among the 11 Leucocytozoon lineages and 2 Plasmodium lineages identified, the parasite lineages that infected chickens during the breeding season were more diversified than those that affected chickens during the non-breeding season. This study indicated that chickens have a higher incidence of haemosporidian infection and a greater diversity of haemosporidian parasite lineages during the breeding season relative to the non-breeding season.
