Table 1.

Intensity of parasitemia and megalomeront-positive organs seen in the five dissected naturally infected Common starlings (Sturnus vulgaris). The number of visualized megalomeronts in histological sections (in parenthesis) and the stage of their development are shown. Note that reports of megalomeronts did not seem to be related to the intensity of parasitemia, as megalomeronts were not seen in individual no. 4, in which parasitemia was high (10%), but were present in bird no. 1, in which parasitemia was lower (1%). No megalomeronts were found in any of the individuals in the heart, liver, pectoral muscles, or the reproductive organs.

Individual Number	Parasitemia (%)	Brain	Intestine	Pancreas	Kidneys	Lungs	Esophagus	Spleen	Gizzard	Trachea
1	1	0 a	growing (2)	0	growing (1)	0	ruptured (1)	growing (1) ruptured (3)	0	0
2	2	0	growing (1)	0	0	0	0	growing (1)	0	growing (1)
3	3	0	growing (4) ruptured (4)	growing (1) mature (1) ruptured (1)	0	growing (1)	0	0	growing (1)	0
4	10	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
5	26	mature (1)	ruptured (2)	0	0	0	growing (1) ruptured (1)	0	growing (2)	0

^a Organ examined, but megalomeronts were not found.