Observations on the Epizootiology of Filarial Infections in Two Species of the Avian Family Corvidae

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Abstract
Incidence of filarial infections was followed in crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos) and blue jays (Cyanocitta cristata) over a 21-month period by examination of lungs of birds collected on several days of each month. A total of 217 crows and 490 blue jays was examined. During one period the jays were classified as either fledgling or mature. Ectoparasites were sought on the birds examined. There was a relatively regular incidence of 65% infections in the jays and 80% in the crows. This rate dropped, by about 40% in each sp. during the breeding season, when the young birds were collected, but remained constant at this time in the jays classified as adult. Periodic examination of a young jay taken from the nest 16 days after hatching showed the prepatent period to be no more than 46 to 62 days. Among other arthropods taken from the same nest, there were 6 Culicoides haematopotus, 3 of them engorged. The hypothesis is advanced that transmission of the worms is mainly familial. and occurs in the nest during the breeding season, and that the vector probably is closely associated with the nest and contained birds. Biting gnats, and to a lesser extent mosquitoes, are vector candidates.

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