New Host Records for Haemoproteus Spp. (Apicomplexa: Haemosporidiasina) in Passeriformes from North-West of Iran

BACKGROUND The intracellular protozoan parasites of the genus Haemoproteus occur in different avian hosts all over the world. Various genus of blood sucking insects' families such as Hippoboscidae and Ceratopogonidae could transmit Haemoproteus in avian hosts. There are very limited number of studies on wild infected birds with blood parasites in Iran, so the aim of this study was to determine the frequency of Haemoproteus spp. infection in passerine birds from northwest of Iran. METHODS Passerines were collected from four different localities in Zanjan Province, northwest Iran during June to August 2014. RESULTS Of 86 passerines, we found Haemoproteus infection in 19 (22.09%) individuals. In general, 15 bird species were observed for haemosporidians, of which 53% were infected. CONCLUSION Three species of passerines: Petronia petronia, Sitta tephronota and Acrocephalus melanopogon are new host records for Haemoproteus infection in the world. Results acquired by this study support widespread distribution of Haemoproteus in passerines and illustrated the prevalence of Haemoproteus species in wild birds of northwest of Iran. Conclusively, our study specified that more investigations are needed to reach exact prevalence rate in different families of birds in Iran.