The psittacine beak and feather disease (PBFD) is a globally widespread infectious bird disease that mainly affects species within the Order Psittaciformes (parrots and allies). The disease is caused by an avian circovirus (the beak and feather disease virus, BFDV), which is highly infectious and...

The objective of the study was to record the tick species collected from three species of tortoise, each in a different province of South Africa. Ticks were collected from leopard tortoises, Stigmochyles pardalis, in the southern region of the Kruger National Park, Mpumalanga province; from...

This work describes the geographical distribution, ecology, population dynamics, capture, trade, welfare and conservation of ball pythons (Python regius), gray parrots (Psittacus erithacus and Psittacus timneh), emperor scorpions (Pandinus imperator), leopard tortoises (Stigmochelys pardalis),...

Psittacine beak and feather disease (PBFD) has emerged in recent years as a major threat to wild parrot populations and is an increasing concern to aviculturists and managers of captive populations. Pathological and serological tests for screening for the presence of beak and feather disease virus...

Although diverse tick-borne pathogens (TBPs) are endemic to East Africa, with recognized impact on human and livestock health, their diversity and specific interactions with tick and vertebrate host species remain poorly understood in the region. In particular, the role of reptiles in TBP...

Background: In free-ranging reptile populations, bacterial, fungal, viral and parasitic pathogens may affect hosts through impairment in movements, thermoregulation, reproduction, survival, and population dynamics. The speckled dwarf tortoise (Chersobius [Homopus] signatus) is a threatened species...

Psittacine beak and feather disease (PBFD), caused by Beak and feather disease virus (BFDV), has spread rapidly around the world, raising concerns for threatened species conservation and biosecurity associated with the global pet bird trade. The virus has been reported in several wild parrot...

The phylogeny of the mite genus Pterygosoma Peters, 1849 (Acariformes: Pterygosomatidae), permanent parasites of lizards of the families Agamidae, Gerrhosauridae and Liolaemidae (Reptilia: Squamata), was inferred with maximum parsimony, successive weighting and implied weighting approaches based on ...

Poyang Lake is the largest freshwater lake in China and sustains a high level of biodiversity in the mid-reach area of the Yangtze River watershed. Poyang Lake is also one of the most important aquaculture regions in China, and a great number of non-native species have been introduced into it. We...

Quill mites (Acariformes: Prostigmata: Syringophilidae) are a family of about 400 ectoparasite species known to infest birds for over 140 yr. All previously identified quill mites occur in the calamus, a cavity of the bird feather, where they spent their entire life except for a short dispersion...