Assessing Diversity, Plasmodium Infection and Blood Meal Sources in Mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) from a Brazilian Zoological Park with Avian Malaria Transmission (original) (raw)

Simple Summary Zoological gardens in forest areas host a large diversity of vertebrate species (exotic and indigenous, free-living and captive, migrant and resident), resulting in an artificial proximity of animal species that would never share the same environment in natural conditions. The presence of mosquitoes enables the transmission of vector-borne pathogens, as is the case with avian malaria parasites. The mild infections in some bird species may become a serious threat to others that do not possess a natural resistance. Thus, the identification of the potential vectors of these parasites is important for future control of these agents, aiming at the bird species conservation. In this study, we collected over 2000 mosquitoes in São Paulo Zoo and analyzed them through molecular methods. Six different mosquito species yielded positive for the targeted parasite DNA. We demonstrated that these culicids had fed mainly on bird species and we reported three mosquito species that hav...