Parasites of the edible-nest swiftlet, Aerodramus sp. in Perak, Malaysia

A study was carried out to investigate the presence of internal and external parasites of the edible-nest swiftlet, Aerodramus sp. in urban and agricultural land in Perak, Malaysia. The urban locations represent the samples taken from town and city areas and the agricultural land represent samples collected from areas located outside towns or in the plantations. A total of 94 swiftlets were examined from both urban and agriculture land. Seventy-eight birds were collected from ranching premises and 16 wild-caught birds from Perak comprising adults and juveniles of both sexes were examined for ectoparasites, endo-parasites and haemo-parasites. Ninety edible-birdnest (EBN) were also examined for ecto-parasites. Blood samples were collected from a total of 64 birds; 16 blood films were made and 48 blood samples were spotted onto FTA® paper and tested using Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) method. From the 48 birds, 22 birds were from the urban area and 26 birds were from agricultural land areas. PCR results showed 46 out of 48 blood samples (95.84%) were positive for blood parasites. All positive PCR products were sent for DNA sequencing and confirmation. A total of 46 blood samples were positive for Haemoproteus columbae (95.84%) and one sample was positive for Plasmodium sp. (2.09%). Fifty-seven fresh faeces were collected from the bird and examined for intestinal protozoa, coccidia oocysts, ova and larvae using direct faecal smears revealed absence of intestinal protozoa, coccidia oocysts, ova or larvae. There were three species of cestodes recovered from the bird samples. They were Pseudochoanotaenia sp., Pseudangularia sp. and Neoliga sp. The nematode was identified as belonging to the Order Spirurida. Two species of trematodes were identified from the samples namely Prosthogonimus sp. and Plagiorchis sp. Ectoparasites were also collected for identification. A total of 11 mite species found on the birds were Cheyletiellidae, cf. Laminalloptes sp. (Type 1), cf. Laminalloptes sp. (Type 2), cf. Dubininia sp., Ornithonyssus bursa, cf. Pterodectes amarochalinus, cf. Acaridae, cf. Cheyletus sp., cf. Rhinonyssidae (Ptilonyssus sp.), cf. Laelapidae and Cheyletus sp. The nests contained the same types of mites except for cf. Acaridae, cf. Rhinonyssidae (Ptilonyssus sp.) and Cheyletus sp. All lice found on the birds and in the nest were identified as the genus Dennyus. Neither ticks nor fleas were recovered from the birds or the EBN. The study revealed no significant relationship between the locations (urban and agricultural land) and occurrence rate of parasitic infestation in edible-nest swiftlet, Aerodramus sp. in Perak (P>0.05).

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