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Exo-erythrocytic development of avian malaria and related haemosporidian parasites

Overview of attention for article published in Malaria Journal, March 2017
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  • Good Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age (67th percentile)
  • Good Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age and source (66th percentile)

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Title
Exo-erythrocytic development of avian malaria and related haemosporidian parasites
Published in
Malaria Journal, March 2017
DOI 10.1186/s12936-017-1746-7
Pubmed ID
Authors

Gediminas Valkiūnas, Tatjana A. Iezhova

Abstract

Avian malaria parasites (Plasmodium spp.) and related haemosporidians (Haemosporida) are responsible for diseases which can be severe and even lethal in avian hosts. These parasites cause not only blood pathology, but also damage various organs due to extensive exo-erythrocytic development all over the body, which is not the case during Plasmodium infections in mammals. However, exo-erythrocytic development (tissue merogony or schizogony) remains the most poorly investigated part of life cycle in all groups of wildlife haemosporidian parasites. In spite of remarkable progress in studies of genetic diversity, ecology and evolutionary biology of avian haemosporidians during the past 20 years, there is not much progress in understanding patterns of exo-erythrocytic development in these parasites. The purpose of this review is to overview the main information on exo-erythrocytic development of avian Plasmodium species and related haemosporidian parasites as a baseline for assisting academic and veterinary medicine researchers in morphological identification of these parasites using tissue stages, and to define future research priorities in this field of avian malariology. The data were considered from peer-reviewed articles and histological material that was accessed in zoological collections in museums of Australia, Europe and the USA. Articles describing tissue stages of avian haemosporidians were included from 1908 to the present. Histological preparations of various organs infected with the exo-erythrocytic stages of different haemosporidian parasites were examined. In all, 229 published articles were included in this review. Exo-erythrocytic stages of avian Plasmodium, Fallisia, Haemoproteus, Leucocytozoon, and Akiba species were analysed, compared and illustrated. Morphological characters of tissue stages that can be used for diagnostic purposes were specified. Recent molecular studies combined with histological research show that avian haemosporidians are more virulent than formerly believed. The exo-erythrocytic stages can cause severe disease, especially in non-adapted avian hosts, suggesting the existence of a group of underestimated malignant infections. The development of a given haemosporidian strain can be markedly different in different avian hosts, resulting in significantly different virulence. A methodology combining the traditional histology techniques with molecular diagnostic tools is essential to speed research in this field of avian malariology.

X Demographics

X Demographics

The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 7 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 157 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Lithuania 1 <1%
United States 1 <1%
Unknown 155 99%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Ph. D. Student 28 18%
Student > Master 27 17%
Researcher 21 13%
Student > Doctoral Student 13 8%
Student > Bachelor 13 8%
Other 27 17%
Unknown 28 18%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 45 29%
Veterinary Science and Veterinary Medicine 21 13%
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology 20 13%
Environmental Science 11 7%
Immunology and Microbiology 7 4%
Other 14 9%
Unknown 39 25%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 5. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 21 November 2018.
All research outputs
#6,198,075
of 22,958,253 outputs
Outputs from Malaria Journal
#1,700
of 5,587 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#100,982
of 310,523 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Malaria Journal
#38
of 119 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 22,958,253 research outputs across all sources so far. This one has received more attention than most of these and is in the 72nd percentile.
So far Altmetric has tracked 5,587 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a little more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 6.8. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 68% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 310,523 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 67% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 119 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 66% of its contemporaries.