2022 Volume 27 Issue 2 Pages 59-61
Among infectious diseases found in captive penguins in zoos and aquariums in Japan, avian malaria has caused fatalities to the hosts and invited high interests for prevention and treatment. However, the prevalence of the avian Plasmodium, vector mosquito species have been unknown. Investigations on the birds and the mosquitoes in wild are usually restricted by weather, seasons and manpower. On the other hand, zoos and aquariums are an ideal field for epidemiological studies; individual information of captive animals such as age, sex, and health status is well known. Since 2004, we have been provided numerous samples from many zoos and aquariums, to elucidate the prevalence of avian malaria in penguins, and have detected many avian Plasmodium parasites. In addition, we found the same species of avian Plasmodium from mosquitoes as detected from penguins and clarified that these mosquitoes sucked the blood of various wild birds in the facilities including penguins. We also showed that the avian Plasmodium found in those captive penguins were transmitted from wild birds inhabiting around the facilities. We were also able to elucidate the transmission route of canine filarial worms in a zoo. All those results were achieved by taking advantage of zoos and aquariums with the full cooperation from the veterinarians and the keepers involved. We expect more effective and collaborative researches for ex situ conservation for rare species by studying the yearly prevalence, the pathogenicity and the treatment.
