Avian malaria and related haemosporidians (genera Haemoproteus, Plasmodium and Leucocytozoon) infect most clades of bird. Although these parasites are present in almost all continents, they have been irregularly studied across different geographical regions. Despite the high bird diversity in Asia, the diversity of avian haemosporidians in this region is largely unknown. Moreover, anthropogenic changes to habitats in tropical regions may have a profound impact on the overall composition of haemosporidian communities. Here we analyzed the diversity and host association of bird haemosporidians from areas with different degrees of anthropogenic disturbance in Myanmar, revealing an unexplored diversity of these parasites (27% of newly-discovered haemosporidian lineages, and 64% of new records of host–parasite assemblages) in these tropical environments. This newly discovered diversity will be valuable for detecting host range and transmission areas of haemosporidian parasites. We also found slightly higher haemosporidian prevalence and diversity in birds from paddy fields than in individuals from urban areas and hills, thus implying that human alteration of natural environments may affect the dynamics of vector-borne diseases. These outcomes provide valuable insights for biodiversity conservation management in threatened tropical ecosystems.

This research was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (ref. CGL2015-64650P) and Junta de Extremadura (ref. IB16121). J.M. was supported by a postdoctoral contract from the University of Extremadura (Junta de Extremadura—IB16121) (from May 2018 to September 2019) and a postdoctoral grant from the Juan de la Cierva Subprogram (FJCI-2017-34109), with the financial sponsorship of the MICINN (September 2019—ongoing). S.M.A. was supported by Junta de Extremadura (GR18047 research group BBB028 and IB16121) and the project “Aves y Enfermedades Infecciosas Emergentes: impacto de las especies exóticas y migratorias en la transmisión de malaria aviar y el virus del Nilo Occidental” from the Ayudas Fundación BBVA a Equipos de Investigación Científica 2019. L.G.L. was supported by Junta de Extremadura (PO17024, Post-Doc grant). The 1st zoological section of The Natural History Museum Vienna supported the study by paying the article-processing charges.

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