ORIGINAL PAPER A retrospective survey into the presence of Plasmodium spp. and Toxoplasma gondii in archived tissue samples from New Zealand raptors: New Zealand falcons (Falco novaeseelandiae), Australasian harriers (Circus approximans) and moreporks (Ninox novaeseelandiae) V. Mirza 1 & E. B. Burrows 2 & S. Gils 2 & S. Hunter 3 & B. D. Gartrell 3 & L. Howe 2 Received: 9 April 2017 /Accepted: 15 June 2017 # Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany 2017 Abstract Human colonisation of New Zealand has resulted in the introduction of emerging diseases, such as avian malaria and toxoplasmosis, which arrived with their exotic avian and mammalian hosts. Plasmodium spp. and Toxoplasma gondii have a wide host range, and several species of endemic New Zealand birds have developed a fatal disease following infec- tion with either pathogen. However, no reports of either toxo- plasmosis or avian malaria in New Zealand raptors, namely, the New Zealand falcons ( Falco novaeseelandiae ), Australasian harriers (Circus approximans) and moreporks (Ninox novaeseelandiae) exist in the literature. Therefore, this study was designed to determine if these two pathogens are present in these raptors through a retrospective analysis of archived tissue samples. Detection and isolate identification of these pathogens was determined using established histolog- ical and molecular techniques. All three species of New Zealand raptors tested positive for the presence of Plasmodium spp. (10/117; 8.5%) and an atypical genotype of T. gondii (9/117; 7.7%). Plasmodium lineages identified include P. elongatum GRW6, P. relictum SGS1, P. relictum PADOM02 and Plasmodium sp. LINN1. Two Australasian harriers and one morepork tested positive for the presence of both Plasmodium spp. and T. gondii. However, the pathoge- nicity of these organisms to the raptors is unclear as none of the tissues showed histological evidence of clinical disease associated with Plasmodium spp. and T. gondii infections. Thus, these results demonstrate for the first time that these two potential pathogens are present in New Zealand’ s raptors; however, further research is required to determine the preva- lence and pathogenicity of these organisms among the living populations of these birds in the country. Keywords Toxoplasma gondii . Plasmodium . Raptor . New Zealand Introduction There are three native species of raptors present in New Zealand today, the New Zealand falcon ( Falco novaeseelandiae), Australasian harrier (Circus approximans) and morepork (Ninox novaeseelandiae). The New Zealand falcon is New Zealand’ s only endemic falcon species and is currently classified as BNationally Vulnerable/Nationally Endangered^ under the New Zealand threat classification sys- tem and as BNear Threatened^ by the IUCN (Hitchmough et al. 2007; Butchart and Symes 2012). The Australasian har- rier is New Zealand’ s largest raptor, and there are abundant populations associated with rural landscapes (Eason and Spurr 1995). Moreporks are New Zealand’ s only remaining native owl species and are abundantly found on both the main islands of New Zealand (Heather and Robertson 1996). Emerging infectious diseases are often regarded as a sig- nificant threat to wildlife species (Daszak et al. 2000). Of particular concern to New Zealand’ s avifauna are the emerg- ing diseases avian malaria (due to Plasmodium spp.) and toxo- plasmosis (due to Toxoplasma gondii) that were introduced to * L. Howe L.Howe@massey.ac.nz 1 Bannerghatta Biological Park, Bangalore 5600083, India 2 Infectious Disease, Institute of Veterinary, Animal and Biomedical Sciences, Massey University, Palmerston North 4410, New Zealand 3 Wildbase, Institute of Veterinary, Animal and Biomedical Sciences, Massey University, Palmerston North 4410, New Zealand Parasitol Res DOI 10.1007/s00436-017-5536-5