Prevalence of Plasmodium relictum in pigeons detected by PCR.

摘要

Thirteen male and 15 female adult domesticated pigeons (Columba livia domestica) were tested by PCR for Plasmodium relictum in Baghdad, Iraq from 1/1/2018 to 1/5/2018. Infection rate was ~14.3% (4/28) with 23% (3/13) in males and 6.7% (1/15) in females. Under NCBI accession number MK 185101 version MK 185101.1 phylogenetic tree we identified Plasmodium relictum to be 100% compatible with isolates from Russia, Lithuania, South Africa and China and 96 % to 99% with others. Our findings suggest similar prevalence and isolates in Iraq as reported by others.