| الملخص: | Free-ranging corvids—678 magpies (<i>Pica pica</i>) and 120 hooded crows (<i>Corvus cornix</i>) from nine protected areas of the Pisa province (central Italy)—were examined for <i>Toxoplasma gondii</i> and <i>Trichinella pseudospiralis</i>. The intracardiac blood clots from 651 magpies and 120 hooded crows were serologically examined for <i>T. gondii</i>. The DNA extracted from the hearts of seropositive birds was then used to perform a nested PCR for the amplification of the <i>T. gondii</i> B1 gene and for genotyping for SAG genetic markers. Breast muscle samples from 678 magpies and 91 hooded crows were tested by an artificial digestion method for <i>Trichinella</i>. Data were statistically analyzed. Forty-five (5.8%—41 magpies and four hooded crows) out of the 771 examined animals scored seropositive for <i>T. gondii,</i> with titers ranging from 1:25 to 1:100. <i>T. gondii</i> DNA was detected in 15 of the 45 positive birds and <i>T. gondii</i> genotypes II and III were identified. No positivity for <i>T. pseudospiralis</i> was found. No significant differences between the two species of corvids and among the different areas of origin were observed for seropositivity to <i>T. gondii</i>. This is the first extensive study on both <i>T. gondii</i> and <i>T. pseudospiralis</i> in magpies and hooded crows, as well as the first detection of <i>T. gondii</i> SAG genotypes in magpies.
|
|---|
