Microsporidia Babesiidae Eimeriidae Protozoa

Public Health Significance of Urban Pests Birds 257 256 Contaminated areas could pose a human health hazard for a prolonged period of time Latham et al., 1980. For example, the endemic reactivity of children from a school in the United States to the skin-test antigen histoplasmin was ascribed to the presence of a nearby roosting site of blackbirds, the soil of which was the source of H. capsulatum Dodge, Ajello Engelke, 1965. Major outbreaks of histoplasmosis 300 human cases occurred in Mason City, Iowa, following two repeated clearings in 1962 and 1964 of a park area where large numbers of starlings had been roosting for years D’Alessio et al., 1965; Tosh et al., 1966. A total of 355 students showed symptoms of histoplasmosis after the soil was rototilled in an Indiana school courtyard known as a blackbird–starling roos- ting site; H. capsulatum was then also isolated from filters in the school air-conditioning system Chamany et al., 2004. In another case, children were infected through contact with a nesting place of common grackles, contaminated with the fungus. Also, a great number of people working on a ring-billed gull Larus delawarensis nesting colony site in winter developed acute pulmonary histoplasmosis, and H. capsulatum was isolated from the nesting site Waldman et al., 1983.

8.2.4. Protozoa

8.2.4.1. Microsporidia

1 DNA from three microsporidian species – Enterocytozoon bieneusi, Encephalitozoon hel- lem and Encephalitozoon intestinalis – was recently detected in excreta of urban feral pigeons in Spanish parks Haro et al., 2005. Children and the elderly are among the main visitors to these parks and, at the same time, they are the population groups at risk for microsporidiosis. However, no microsporidial infections of people have yet been repor- ted as attributable to, or directly associated with, urban birds.

8.2.4.2. Babesiidae

It is probable that the protozoan parasite Babesia microti, one of several infectious agents of human babesiosis, may occur on, and be dispersed by, some synanthropic birds via atta- ched infected preimaginal deer and castor-bean vector ticks. However, no Babesia infec- tions of people have yet been reported as attributable to, or directly associated with, urban birds.

8.2.4.3. Eimeriidae

The protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii has been recorded relatively often in such wild birds as corvids Finlay Manwell, 1956; Lvov Ilyichev, 1979; Literák et al., 1992, ducks, gulls Lvov Ilyichev, 1979; Literák et al., 1992 and columbids, including feral pigeons Jacobs, Melton Jones, 1952; Berger, 1966; Orlandella Coppola, 1969; Lvov Ilyichev, 1979; Literák et al., 1992; Haag-Wackernagel Moch, 2004; it has been recor- ded less frequently in sparrows Pak, 1976; Lvov Ilyichev, 1979; Hejlíˇcek, Proˇsek Treml, 1981; Literák et al., 1992, starlings Pak, 1976; Haslett Schneider, 1978; Lvov Ilyichev, 1979; Peach, Fowler H ay, 1989 and several other passerines Pak, 1976; Hejlíˇcek, Proˇsek Treml, 1981; Literák et al., 1992. On a communal roost in Leicester, England, 8 of starlings examined were infected; starlings could thus play an important role in the maintenance of toxoplasmosis in urban environments Peach, Fowler Hay, 1989. Infected starlings, sparrows and other small passerines can be the source of T. gon- dii infection for domestic cats. Many synanthropic avian species have shown to be sus- There are several reports on human cryptococcal meningitis or pneumonia acquired by contact with pigeon habitats contaminated with the infectious agent Muchmore et al., 1963, Procknow et al., 1965. Cryptococcus neoformans has been repeatedly isolated – even from the air – in feral pigeons’ breeding sites Staib Bethäuser, 1968; Powell et al., 1972; Ruiz Bulmer, 1981; Ruiz, Neilson Bulmer, 1982, and the cell size of airborne yeast- like particles 0.6–3.5µm is compatible with alveolar deposition after inhalation. Some studies have found that antibodies to C. neoformans are more frequent in people who have been in contact with pigeons than in people of the control group Walter Atchison, 1966; Newberry et al., 1967. Nearly all isolates from pigeon excreta are of serotype A C. neoformans var. grubii, the same as most strains isolated from human cases of cryptococ- cosis Walter Coffee, 1968. The incidence of human cryptococcosis is 5–30 in patients with AIDS or in people who are HIV-positive; a study from Burundi indicated that many of these cases could have acquired the mycosis by contact with contaminated pigeon habitats Swinne et al., 1991. In Australia, a man died from cryptococcal meningitis four months after removing a Welcome swallow Hirundo neoxena nest heavily contamina- ted with C. neoformans serotype A from the roof Glasziou McAleer, 1984. A human case of osteomyelitis caused by C. neoformans var. grubii was described in Sweden; the patient became infected by cleaning a wooden box that had been used for several conse- cutive years for breeding by starlings and that contained the infectious agent Kumlin et al., 1998.

8.2.3.2. Ascomycetes