Internal Parasites and Their Impact on the Health and Conservation of Neotropical Vertebrates

Parasites are indicators of the health of ecosystems and their hosts due to their role in ecological and evolutionary processes. Wild animals are hosts of a great diversity of protozoa and helminths that are capable of acting as primary or secondary agents of diseases. In addition, some parasites have zoonotic potential and can compromise human health. Several anthropogenic factors influence the host-parasite relationship and are involved in the emergence of parasitic enzootic and zoonotic diseases, especially fragmentation and habitat loss due to changes in land use. In this chapter, we will address the ecology of protozoa and helminths of amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals in the Neotropical region and highlight the impact of these parasites on the health and conservation of biodiversity and ecosystems under the prism of Conservation Medicine and the One Health approach.