Haematozoa
Hematozoa is a subclass of blood parasites of Apicomplexa clade. Well known examples include Plasmodium spp. causing the human malaria, or Theileria in cattles, but a large number of species are known to infect birds and are transmitted by arthropod vectors.
Infections of haematozoa can have adverse fitness effects on certain species. Species that have been isolated or not have been exposed to the infection have been found to be especially more vulnerable to pathogenic effects. The infection effects are able to persist in host avian species through long-distance migrations.
Blood parasites that have been studied were found to be transmitted by haematophagous dipteran vectors that have life stages in both aquatic and flighted environments.
