Comparison of haemosporidian infection between wild red junglefowls and domestic chickens

Abstract

Parasitic infections, including avian chronic haemosporidian infection, have been proven to be a major selection force affecting birds on a global scale including closely related bird species. To date, there has been limited information about haemosporidian infections in the red junglefowl (Gallus gallus) as compared to the domestic chicken (G. gallus domesticus). In this study, we collected blood samples of 39 wild red junglefowls and 122 domestic chickens to test for the presence of haemosporidian infections and various parasitic lineages. The PCR product of positive samples was sequenced, and their lineage was identified using the GenBank database. The result showed that all sampled red junglefowls tested positive for haemosporidian infection with 100% of parasite prevalence, while 104 domestic chickens tested positive (85%). Furthermore, parasite lineages were more diverse in red junglefowls compared to domestic chickens. We recommend that further research should be conducted on more populations of wild red junglefowls in comparison to the domestic chickens to ascertain the prevalence of haemosporidian parasites in association with vectors and other risk factors.