• Question: Have you ever discovered a new parasite? If so what was it like? Did it have any abnormal traits?

    Asked by anon-292578 to Ross on 27 Apr 2021.
    • Photo: Ross Low

      Ross Low answered on 27 Apr 2021:

      I haven’t discovered a new species of parasite but we did find a new strain of Trichomonas gallinae. This parasite causes a disease called ‘canker’ in birds. Wild birds in the UK normally get this but they usually get better, a bit like the cold. But this new strain has been killing the birds it infects!
      I have been working to get a better idea of why this new strain is so much worse than the normal one and then it will be up to other scientists to use that to help the birds. It is quite bad though, the greenfinches in the UK are in danger of being put straight on the red list of endangered animals.
      You can read more about it here: https://www.earlham.ac.uk/trichomonas-gallinae

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