Avian blood parasites have been shown to have significant health effects on avifauna worldwide. Sri Lanka, a tropical island rich with resident and migratory birds, has not been properly evaluated for avian blood parasites or their vectors. We investigated the presence of avian haemoparasites in Sri Lankan birds and the potential mosquito vectors of those pathogens. Blood samples were collected from local/migratory birds captured by standard mist nets from Anawilundawa bird sanctuary, Hanthana mountain range, and the University of Peradeniya park. Mosquitoes were collected from Halgolla forest reserve and the forest patches in Kurunegala and Gampola areas in addition to the above mist-netting localities. Part of the mitochondrial cytochrome b (cytb) gene was amplified and sequenced to detect the presence of haemoparasites from avian blood samples (86) and mosquito samples (480). Blood parasites of the two genera, i.e., Haemoproteus (4 species; Haemoproteus sp. 1-4) and Plasmodium (5 species; Plasmodium sp. 1-5) were identified from seven bird species (four resident and three migratory). Among these, three bird species (Red-vented bulbul (3/16), Asian Brown flycatcher (1/1), and India pitta (1/1)) were positive for Plasmodium spp., while four (Yellow-browed bulbul (1/4), oriental white-eye (1/4), brown-headed Barbet (1/4), and Indian blue robin (1/1)) were positive for Haemoproteus spp. Two mosquito species were also positive for Plasmodium (3) and Haemoproteus (1) species. Phylogenetic analysis and haplotype networks created using positive sequences of haemoparasites showed that a Plasmodium clade was shared by Cx nigropunctatus mosquitoes and the migratory bird, Indian pitta. The majority (85%) of the Plasmodium and Haemoproteus sequences of this study were not linked to the well-characterized species suggesting the distinct nature of the lineages. Associations between mosquito species and blood parasites of birds suggest the possible vector status of these mosquitoes.

禽血寄生虫已显示对全世界的动物群具有重要的健康影响。斯里兰卡是一个热带热带岛屿，居住着许多候鸟，尚未对其禽血寄生虫或其媒介进行适当评估。我们调查了斯里兰卡鸟类中禽血寄生虫的存在以及这些病原体的潜在蚊媒。采集的血样是由标准/薄雾网捕获的本地/迁徙鸟类采集的，该网来自Anawilundawa鸟类保护区，汉萨纳山脉和佩拉德尼亚大学公园。除上述雾网地区外，还从Halgolla森林保护区以及Kurunegala和Gampola地区的森林斑块中收集了蚊子。线粒体细胞色素b（cytb）基因被扩增并测序，以检测禽血样本（86）和蚊子样本（480）中的血寄生虫。从7种鸟类（4种常住和3种迁徙）中鉴定出了两个属的血寄生虫，即变形血红杆菌（4种；变形血球sp。1-4）和疟原虫（5种；疟原虫sp.1-5）。在这些鸟类中，疟原虫属呈阳性的有三种鸟类（红色通风的-（3/16），亚洲褐fly（1/1）和印度的pitta（1/1）），而四种（黄色眉bulb（ 1/4），东方白眼（1/4），棕头芭bet（1/4）和印度蓝知更鸟（1/1））的血红蛋白阳性spp。疟原虫（3）和变形杆菌（1）的两个蚊子也呈阳性。用血寄生虫的阳性序列建立的系统发育分析和单倍型网络表明，疟原虫进化枝由黑头x蚊和候鸟印度共享。这项研究的大部分疟原虫和血红蛋白序列（85％）与特征明确的物种没有联系，表明这些谱系具有独特的性质。蚊子种类与鸟类血液寄生虫之间的关联表明这些蚊子可能处于媒介状态。