Hematological changes of chickens experimentally infected with Plasmodium (Bennettinia) juxtanucleare

Plasmodium juxtanucleare is one of the agents that cause chicken malaria. High parasitemia causes anemia, diarrhea and weight loss that leads to death. This parasite is spread through the tropics and little is known about the physiological changes caused by P. juxtanucleare infections in chickens. The aim of this work was to determine hematological changes in chickens experimentally infected with this parasite. No weight or temperature differences between infected and control groups were detected. Low parasitemia was observed reaching a peak after 15 days; trophozoits was the most observed form, followed by schizonts detected on day 12 and gametocytes on day 27. Infected thrombocytes and thrombocytes with pyknotic nuclei and retracted cytoplasm were observed along the experimental infection. No changes were observed on the erythrocyte values. However, a reduction of thrombocyte number and an increase of total leukocyte and basophil numbers, all significant, were detected in infected chickens. Parasitemia was probably kept low by general immunological activation. These results suggest that classical hematology can monitor physiological changes caused by P. juxtanucleare infections in chickens.