María Casero

Wildlife Rehabilitation and Research Centre of Ria Formosa · Veterinary

In wildlife rehabilitation centers, thousands of animals are treated annually, with a substantial proportion being birds of prey. Since vision is essential for the survival of these species, this study focused on investigating the causes of ocular injuries in raptors admitted to four rehabilitation centers across mainland Portugal from 2017 to 2021...

Over thirty percent of bird species are undergoing population declines and are threatened with extinction in Portugal. Several reasons have been proposed to explain this decrease, such as the impact of human activities on natural environments and pathogens affecting the health of wildlife, domestic animals, and humans. Wildlife rescue and rehabilit...

The western-European hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) is an insectivore with a wide distribution in Portugal and a potential tool for biomonitoring relevant One Health hazards, including heavy metal(loid)s’ pollution. The aim of this study was to positively contribute to the current knowledge about the metal(loid) pollution in Portugal. Forty-six hed...

Malaria parasites and other emerging infectious diseases pose significant challenges to global health. Despite significant research on Plasmodium spp. parasites, there is still a gap in understanding their diversity, specificity, virulence, and current distribution in Europe. Additionally, more limited knowledge exists about haemoparasites belongin...

Avian Dicrocoeliidae are difficult to identify, even in their adult stages. Molecular analyses have been conducted for only a few species, complicating the accurate identification of juvenile stages. The taxonomy of the family is unresolved, and the status of many dicrocoeliid species is uncertain. Sequences of nuclear and mitochondrial DNA loci of...

A debilitated adult female Western European hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus), rescued in Quarteira (South Portugal), died 2 days after its admission to Wildlife Rehabilitation and Research Centre (RIAS). At the postmortem examination, this animal had a dilated stomach with small punctiform ulcers on the mucosa, bloody faeces, a full urinary bladder a...

Due to poisoning and decline in the food resources of Eurasian vultures, there has been a rise in the number of Griffon (Gyps fulvus) and Cinereous vultures (Aegypius monachus) needing veterinary care. In captivity, vultures often develop oral and other infectious diseases which can affect their survival and the probability of reintroduction in the...

The main goal was to analyse haemosporidians in owl tissues from different regions of mainland Portugal (PT) and to compare the occurrence of these parasites in distinct owl species, age classes, sexes and geographical regions. Haemosporidians' phylogenetic trees were constructed.

Background: Heavy metal(loid)s pollution is a One Health concern [1]. Hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus) are promising candidates for biomonitoring programs, due to their habits, abundance, distribution and resilience [2]. Objective: This work aims to evaluate heavy metal(loid)s pollution, using E. europaeus as a bioindicator. Methods: Necropsies of 4...

Background: Opportunistic animals such as gulls are often associated with anthropogenic activities, and therefore highly susceptible to plastic ingestion and stomach chemical leaching. Yet, such chemical process is still poorly studied and there is almost no information regarding potential hazardous effects in animal physiological processes. Even t...

Heavy metal(loid) pollution of ecosystems is a current One Health problem. The liver is one of the most affected organs in cases of acute or chronic exposure to abnormal amounts of these substances, inducing histopathologic lesions. In order to assess the influence of heavy metal(loids), forty-five European hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus) were subm...

E.europaeus tem vindo a ser utilizado na avaliação de perigos que afetam a saúde humana, animal e ambiental (“Uma só saúde”), devido a diferentes características biológicas e ecológicas. A poluição por metais pesados e metaloides representa um perigo significativo, cujas consequências da exposição (aguda ou crónica) têm vindo a ser alvo de estudo c...

Introduction: Heavy metal(loid)s are xenobiotics that negatively affect the health of humans, animals and ecosystems (One Health) [1]. Several animal species, such as hedgehogs, have been used as bioindicators, due to different biological and ecological aspects [2]. Material & Methods: Necropsies of 46 hedgehogs from three rescue centres (CERVAS, L...

Feather mites are bird ectoparasites that show variation in their morphological structures depending on the microhabitat and host specificity. The genus Zachvatkinia Dubinin, 1949 comprises 15 species mainly associated with birds from Procellariiformes and Charadriiformes orders and it is usually very abundant on their hosts. The species Zachvatkin...

Background: Parasitic conjunctivitis caused by Philophthalmus spp. is a common ophthalmic disease in birds, with localized outbreaks occurring worldwide. There is no consensus on treating this disease; mechanical removal is considered a standard recommendation, but is associated with disease relapses within days or weeks. Methods: From 2015 to 202...

Myxomatosis is an emergent disease in the Iberian hare (Lepus granatensis). In this species, the disease is caused by a natural recombinant virus (ha‐MYXV) identified for the first time in 2018 and has since been responsible for a large number of outbreaks in Spain and Portugal. The ha‐MYXV, which harbours a 2.8 Kb insert disrupting gene M009L, can...

Anthropogenic litter in the environment is pervasive globally. Of particular concern are plastics because of their ubiquity, longevity in the environment and lethal effects. Plastics affect organisms at most levels of biological organisation but, even in well studied animals like birds, we have limited insight into species-specific vulnerability or...

Toxoplasma gondii is a worldwide zoonotic parasite. According to the “One Health” approach, studies on toxoplasmosis are essential since it affects humans and domestic and wild animals. In the present study, antibodies to T. gondii were determined in serum samples from 263 wild birds located in five wildlife rehabilitation centres in mainland Portu...

Marine biotoxins have been frequently implicated in morbidity and mortality events in numerous species of birds worldwide. Nevertheless, their effects on seabirds have often been overlooked and the associated ecological impact has not been extensively studied. On top of that, the number of published studies confirming by analyses the presence of ma...

Between 2010 and 2019, 2432 gulls (1125 Larus michahellis and 974 L. fuscus) with paretic syndrome were received at RIAS Wildlife Rehabilitation and Research Centre of Ria Formosa (Olhão, Faro). On admission 333 gulls were dead and 2099 were alive. Clinical signs: different degrees of ascendant flaccid paresis, weakness, anorexia, diarrhea (flaccid...

Rhipicephalus ticks are competent vectors of several pathogens, such as Spotted Fever Group Rickettsiae (SFGR) and many Babesia species. Within this genus, different R. sanguineus s.l. lineages show an unequal vector competence and resistance regarding some pathogenic strains. Current literature supports that tick endosymbionts may play an essentia...

Cetacean strandings data can provide insights into the long-term dynamics of populations, and threats they face. This work investigated cetacean strandings collected along the southern Portuguese coast (Algarve) between 1978 and 2017, seasonal and annual trends in the number of strandings for all strandings identified to specie level (N = 887), and...

O RIAS – Centro de Recuperação e Investigação de Animais Selvagens é o único centro de recuperação de fauna selvagem em operação na região Sul de Portugal. Recebe animais recolhidos principalmente nos distritos de Faro e Beja, não sendo, contudo, raro o ingresso de animais provenientes de outros distritos do país. Mais de 12 000 animais selvagens,...

Neste trabalho, analisamos os dados relativos a animais admitidos devido a tiro em 7 centros de recuperação de fauna selvagem em Portugal, entre 2010 e 2015, e em 22 centros de Espanha, entre 2014 e 2015. Em Portugal, foram admitidos 486 animais com evidências de tiro, tendo-se observado uma diminuição ligeira do número total de ingressos entre 201...

In modern society, plastic items have become indispensable. The rapid growth of plastic production has led to an increase in the concentration of plastic waste in the environment and, consequently, wildlife has been severely affected. As wide-ranging foragers and predators, aquatic birds are ideal sentinels for monitoring changes in their environme...

Trematodes of the genus Philophthalmus Loos, 1899 are the eye parasites of birds and mammals, which use freshwater snails as their first intermediate hosts. Here we examined the presence of philophthalmids in a total of 1515 gulls (589 Larus fuscus and 926 Larus michahellis) admitted between January 2010 and October 2016 for rehabilitation at Olhão...

Excessive use of plastics in daily life and the inappropriate disposal of plastic products are severely affecting wildlife species in both coastal and aquatic environments. Birds are top-predators, exposed to all threats affecting their environments, making them ideal sentinel organisms for monitoring ecosystems change. We set a baseline assessment...

While shooting protected species is considered an illegal act in the Iberian Peninsula, the admittance of wounded and dead individuals in wildlife rehabilitation centers due to this threat is frequent. In this work, we analyze the data regarding admitted animals due to shooting in seven wildlife rehabilitation centers in Portugal between 2010 and 2...

During 2016, 153 gulls, including 64 Larus fuscus and 89 Larus michahellis, were found crippled in south Portugal, died in Wildlife Rehabilitation and Investigation Center-RIAS, and were necropsied. Reighardia sternae infected 2 (3%, n = 64) L. fuscus and 4 (4%, n = 89) L. michahellis. Molecular analysis confirmed the morphological identification b...

We describe cases of collyriclosis in apodiform and passeriform birds in Portugal, Switzerland, and Germany. We extend the host range of Collyriculm faba to include apodiform birds ( Apus apus , Apus melba , and Apus pallidus ) and the passerine Sitta europaea (Eurasian Nuthatch). Infections varied in severity from an incidental finding to severe d...

Como resultado do uso excessivo de plásticos no dia-a-dia e o descarte inapropriado destes produtos plásticos, os animais selvagens têm sido severamente afectados pelos detritos plásticos em ambientes costeiros e aquáticos. As aves são predadores de topo expostas a todas as ameaças que afectam estes ambientes, o que as torna organismos sentinela id...

Cercopithifilaria bainae and Cercopithifilaria grassii (Spirurida, Onchocercidae) are filarioids inhabiting the skin of dogs worldwide. The microfilariae of a third species namely, Cercopithifilaria sp. II sensu Otranto et al. 2013, have been morphologically and molecularly characterized but scientific knowledge of this parasite is minimal. The fir...

Electrocution is an important mortality factor for spanish-imperial-eagle (Aquila adalberti). The project LIFE Imperial (LIFE13 NAT/PT/001300) is conducting surveys on electric power lines on Castro Verde and Vale do Guadiana SPAs, to detect electrocuted birds. However, power line mortality estimates can be affected by different sources of bias tha...