Hemogregarine parasites in wild captive animals, a broad study in São Paulo Zoo

Abstract

Hemogregarine is a group of blood parasites that infect a wide variety of vertebrates and hematophagous invertebrates. The signs of infection can range from anemia to severe interference in host’s fitness. The purpose of this study was to gather information from the database available at the Clinical Analyses Laboratory at Sao Paulo Zoo Foundation in the last ten years and determine the occurrence of hemogregarine parasites in captive animals of the Sao Paulo Zoo Foundation. The analysis was conducted on the haemoparasitic results from 2972 blood samples, of 1637 individuals of all terrestrial vertebrate group (mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians). Positive results were observed in 1.1% of the individuals and this parasite was found only in reptiles and amphibians. The lack of study with hemogregarine parasites infecting reptiles and amphibians is evident; this work will contribute to the knowledge of parasitological data for captive animals in future works.