Journal
of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 November 2020 | 12(15):
17168–17170
ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print)
doi: https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.4756.12.15.17168-17170
#4756 | Received 12 December 2018 | Final received 06
October 2020 | Finally accepted 10 October 2020
Parasitic enteritis in the free-ranging Common Myna Acridotheres
tristis (Aves: Passeriformes: Sturnidae)
Rakesh Kumar
1, Aman Dev Moudgil 2, Sameeksha Koundal 3 , Rajendra Damu
Patil 4 &
Rajesh Kumar Asrani 5
1,3,4,5 Department of Veterinary Pathology, 2 Department
of Veterinary Parasitology,
DGCN College
of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, CSK HP Agricultural University, Palampur,
Himachal Pradesh176062, India.
1 rkvetpath@gmail.com, 2 moudgil.aman@gmail.com
(corresponding author), 3 sameekshakoundal@gmail.com, 4 rdpatil02@gmail.com,
5 asranirk@gmail.com
Editor: L.D. Singla, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal
Sciences University, Ludhiana, India. Date of publication: 26 November 2020
(online & print)
Citation: Kumar, R., A.D. Moudgil, S. Koundal,
R.D. Patil & R.K. Asrani (2020). Parasitic
enteritis in the free-ranging Common Myna Acridotheres tristis (Aves:
Passeriformes: Sturnidae). Journal of Threatened Taxa 12(15): 17168–17170. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.4756.12.15.17168-17170
Copyright: © Kumar et al. 2020. Creative
Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproduction,
and distribution of this article in any medium by providing adequate credit to
the author(s) and the source of publication.
Funding: None.
Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.
Acknowledgements: The authors are highly grateful to the Dean, COVAS for
providing necessary facilities to carry out the study.
The Common Myna Acridotheres tristisis is an opportunist omnivore and
can be easily spotted near human localities or grazing pastures (Feare et al. 2016). The maintenance of a high level of
infection in mynas is associated with their feeding
habits. These birds often feed insects
which are usually the intermediate hosts for many helminthic infections (Caughley & Sinclair 1994). The myna has also
been found to carry protozoan parasites like Haemoproteus
and Plasmodium spp. (Ishtiaq et al.
2006). Various reports of mynas spreading the zoonotic diseases to humans (bird flu
and salmonellosis), asthma, dermatitis etc. are also recorded (Young 2000).
This communication highlights the presence of the parasitic tapeworm, Hymenolepis cantaniana,
in a free ranging bird, precipitating the potentiality of disease transmission
to domesticated birds.
Two adult Common Myna (1
male and 1 female) were brought to the Department of Veterinary Pathology for
necropsy examination from Rajot, Baijnath
Tehsil, Himachal Pradesh. On detailed
necropsy examination the entire small intestine was found to be stuffed with
balled-up dull white coloured tapeworms along with catarrhal exudate (Image
4). The collected cestode parasites were
thin thread-like having average lengths of 1.84±0.13 cm. The proglottids of the tapeworms were
collected carefully from the intestines (mainly duodenum and jejunum) of the
birds, which were dorso-ventrally compressed between
two slides and fixed in 10% neutral buffered formalin. After complete overnight washing, the worms
were dehydrated in ascending grades of alcohol.
The specimen were stained in borax carmine and then transferred to a
clearing agent (cedar wood oil) and finally mounted in dextrine
plasticised xylene (DPX) (Meyer & Oslen 1975).
Tissue sections of the intestine with a thickness of
5mm were collected in 10% neutral buffered formalin for histopathological
investigation. The formalin fixed
tissues were processed, sectioned at 4–6 micron thickness and stained with
Haematoxylin and Eosin (H&E) for microscopic evaluation as per the protocol
described by Luna (1968).
A thorough external examination revealed emaciated
carcasses with whitish to pale conjunctival mucus membranes. The morphological characteristics of the
parasites recovered from the small intestine were studied in detail for
identification of the genus of the cestode parasite. The detailed observation of the scolex,
exhibited the presence of armed rostellum, i.e.,
presence of rostellar hooks (Image 1). The mean length of the cestode parasites was
1.84±0.13 cm (mean ± standard deviation) (n=10). The proglottids exhibited the presence of
unilateral genital pores, slightly anterior to the middle of the proglottids
(Image 2). The observations were
depicting the parasite to be Hymenolepis cantaniana and were in concordance to the findings of Demis et al. (2015).
In a similar study, Ponnudurai et al. (2009)
recovered tapeworms from Myna, which were later on
identified as Railliettina species.
The histopathological examination of the intestine
revealed the presence of severe congestion, necrotic cellular debris in the
intestinal lumen, pyknotic changes and eosinophilic catarrhal exudate along
with goblet cell hyperplasia and a few polymorphonuclear cells (Image 3). The observations are in concordance with the
findings of Omer et al. (2015).
As this avian species frequently wanders around the
backyard or organized poultry farms, consequently, may act as a potential
source for pathogen transmission to the domesticated poultry and other birds by
contaminating the feed or water with their droppings. The gross and histopathological studies
revealed that severe emaciation due to catarrhal enteritis caused by H. cantaniana tape worms was most probably the
cause of death in the Common Myna.
References
Caughley, G. & A.R.E. Sinclair (1994). Wildlife Ecology and Management. Blackwell
Publishing, Oxford, UK, 334pp.
Demis, C., M. Anteneh & A. Basith (2015). Tapeworms
of poultry in Ethiopia: A Review. British Journalof
Poultry Science 4(3): 44–52. https://doi.org/10.5829/idosi.bjps.2015.4.3.96145
Feare, C.J., J.V. Woude, P.
Greenwell, H.A. Edwards, J.A. Taylor, C.S. Larose, P. Ahlen, J. West, W.
Chadwick, S. Pandey, K. Raines, F. Garcia, J. Komdeurb
& A. Groene (2016). Eradication of Common Mynas
Acridotheres tristis
from Denis Island, Seychelles. Pest Management Science 73(2):
295–304. https://doi.org/10.1002/ps.4263
Ishtiaq, F., J.S. Beadell, A.J.
Baker, A.R. Rahmani, Y.V. Jhala
& R.C. Fleischer (2006). Prevalence
and evolutionary relationships of haematozoan
parasites in native versus introduced populations of Common Myna
Acridotheres tristis.
Proceedings of the Royal Society B 273: 587–594. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2005.3313
Luna, G. (1968). Manual of Histological Staining Method of the
Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, 3rd Edition. New York,
McGraw-Hill Book Company, xii+258pp.
Meyer, C.M. & W.O. Oslen
(1975). Essentials of Parasitology. Dubuque, W.M.C Brown Company Publishers,
ix+303pp.
Omer, L.T., M. Ali, A. Dyar
& A. Morad (2015). Detection of parasitic infections and their
pathological changes in wild pigeons in Duhok province. Al-Qadisiyah Journal of Veterinary Medicine Sciences 14: 2.
Ponnudurai, G., T.J. Harikrishnan, A. Arulmozhi & N. Rani (2009). A note on helminth parasites of Common Myna (Acridotheres tristis) in Namakkal, Tamil
Nadu. Zoos’ Print 24(11): 2.
Young, A. (2000). Corneal laceration with total
but isolated aniridia caused by a pecking injury. Journal of Cataract and
Refractive Surgery 26(9): 1419–1421. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0886-3350(00)00365-5