Detection of Sarcocystis halieti DNA in the Blood of Western House Martin (Delichon urbicum) and Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica) from Lithuania, and in Eurasian Griffon Vulture (Gyps fulvus) from Greece

Purpose

Sarcocystis (Apicomplexa: Sarcocystidae) is a cyst-forming coccidian parasite that infects mammals, reptiles and birds. Despite the emergence of studies employing less invasive or lethal methods to study these parasites, Sarcocystis species have yet to be detected in avian blood. The objective of this study was to molecularly identify Sarcocystis species in the blood DNA samples of three avian host species.

Methods

A total of 93 DNA samples from avian blood were subjected to a screening procedure for Sarcocystis. Samples from three bird species, 30 western house martins (Delichon urbicum), 40 barn swallows (Hirundo rustica) and 23 Eurasian griffon vultures (Gyps fulvus) were used for PCR and sequencing.

Results

Nine samples were found to be positive for Sarcocystis, with a prevalence of 17.4% among Eurasian griffon vultures, 7.5% prevalence among barn swallows, and 6.7% prevalence among western house martins. Based on the sequencing of the partial ITS1 locus S. halieti was identified.

Conclusion

In this paper, S. halieti was molecularly discovered for the first time across all three examined avian host species. Furthermore, S. halieti has been recorded as the first species identified in swallows (Hirundinidae family). However, conclusive confirmation of S. halieti infection in the analysed animals requires examination of muscle tissue for sarcocysts. The results demonstrate that molecular diagnostics from blood samples using PCR/sequencing has the potential to identify Sarcocystis species in avian hosts and implementation of such a technique could prove advantageous in the analysis of these parasites in wild animals.