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Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Fiocruz
ISSN: 1678-8060 EISSN: 1678-8060
Vol. 93, Num. 6, 1998
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oc98226
Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, 1998
Vol. 93(6): 865
BOOK REVIEW
Code Number:OC98226
Sizes of Files:
Text: 5K
Graphics: No associated graphics files
Malária Aviária en un País de la Región Neotropical -
Venezuela
Author: Arnoldo Gabaldon
Publisher: Fundación Venezolana para la Salud, Caracas, Venezuela, 1998, 343
pp. ISBN: 980-07-4832-6
This book is a review on the plasmodia and other haemosporidia of birds from Venezuela,
written by one of the most important malariologist of the New World, Prof. Arnoldo
Gabaldon, who devoted himself over almost 60 years to the study of these parasites. He
considered the bird plasmodia as splendid experimental models for the instruction of
parasitologists as well as for research on the host-parasite relationship in malaria. Indeed,
recent phylogenetic studies based on phenotypic and genotypic characters of species belonging
to the genus Plasmodium have shown that P. falciparum is more closely
associated to the avian malaria parasites than to other mammalian and human plasmodia. The
experimental model P. gallinaceum x Aedes aegypty, is widely used in
laboratories throughout the world, but both the parasite and the vector are alien to the
Neotropical Region. Therefore, Prof. Gabaldon decided to search for Venezuelan models of
avian malaria parasites. In spite of having one of the most numerous bird fauna, practically
nothing was known about the prevalence and transmission of avian malaria parasites in that
country. Then, Prof. Gabaldon and his collaborator, Dr G Ulloa, examined blood samples of
almost 26,000 birds from Venezuela, described five new species and one subgenus and
resurrected from synonym two species of Plasmodium originally described from
Brazil. In addition, they carried out investigations on the biology and ecology of avian malaria
vectors and described a new method to search for sporozoites in naturally infected
mosquitoes. The experience and knowledge acquired during several decades of research on
bird malaria epidemiology in Venezuela was passed to this opera. Moreover, this book
surpasses other publications for the study of most aspects of bird malaria in Venezuela. For
instance, in spite of being a book on parasitology, it also provides a list of resident birds from
Venezuela and keys for their identification. In addition, descriptions of geographic
distribution, ecology and nesting season are given. A large amount of data on bird malaria
vector biology, distribution and breeding-sites is available, particularly on Aedeomyia
squamipennis, because of its ornithophilic behavior and role in the transmission of avian
plasmodia. Most of the necessary knowledge on bird malaria epidemiology in the country is
given, followed by redescriptions of twelve species of Plasmodium as well as of three
other haemosporidia of birds from Venezuela. This book is indispensable for those who want
to study the bird malaria parasites of the New World, mainly to those that are starting to work
with such haemoparasites, since it provides a lot of information on the natural history of the
genus Plasmodium as a whole and discusses the differences in the life cycle of those
parasites of mammals and birds. Unfortunately the present edition needs to be revised and the
bibliography must be updated, since most of the important discoveries obtained in the last ten
years have been overlooked.
Ricardo Lourenço-de-Oliveira
Departamento de Entomologia, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz,
Av. Brasil 4365, 21045-900 Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil
Copyright 1998 Fundacao Oswaldo Cruz - Fiocruz
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