Waterfowl Vector-Borne Pathogen Survey
Conference Year
2024
Abstract
This study looks at the sharing of vector-borne haemosporidian parasites of waterfowl from the northeastern US based on life history traits. My hypothesis is that the birds with similar life history traits will share the same parasites. I have been scanning blood slides of these waterfowl species to visually confirm haemosporidian infection. I plan to extract DNA from the positive samples, PCR, Sanger sequence and then use the gene sequences to identify the infections to the species level to determine the degree of parasite sharing. So far, I have found a high haemosporidian infection rate within the birds.
Primary Faculty Mentor Name
Ellen Martinsen
Status
Undergraduate
Student College
College of Arts and Sciences
Program/Major
Zoology
Primary Research Category
Life Sciences
Waterfowl Vector-Borne Pathogen Survey
This study looks at the sharing of vector-borne haemosporidian parasites of waterfowl from the northeastern US based on life history traits. My hypothesis is that the birds with similar life history traits will share the same parasites. I have been scanning blood slides of these waterfowl species to visually confirm haemosporidian infection. I plan to extract DNA from the positive samples, PCR, Sanger sequence and then use the gene sequences to identify the infections to the species level to determine the degree of parasite sharing. So far, I have found a high haemosporidian infection rate within the birds.