Studies on Haematozoa of New Zealand and Some Adjacent Islands

Abstract

Less work has been carried out on the haematozoan fauna of New Zealand and the adjacent islands, particularly these tropical ones to the northward, than on that of any other major geographical area. In so far as New Zealand itself is concerned, this is largely due to the lack of stimulus consequent from the fact that the economic significance of haematozoa has not yet been fully appreciated in this country. The sparsely settled and comparatively primitive state of such island-groups as the New Hebrides, Solomons, Samoa and Fiji, all of which have haematozoa of medical significance, has held back investigations of this fauna. This position was to some extent remedied during the recent war in the Pacific, in which the maintenance in good health of armies operating in areas heavily infected with malaria and filariasis was militarily of the first importance. However, such military researches were usually concerned with studies of the vectors of disease organisms and their control, rather than with the haematozoa parasites themselves.