Editing Frigatebird (section)

===Parasites===
Frigatebirds are unusual among seabirds in that they often carry blood parasites. Blood-borne [[protozoa]] of the genus ''[[Haemoproteus]]'' have been recovered from four of the five species.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Merino, Santiago |author2=Hennicke, Janos |author3=Martínez, Javier |author4=Ludynia, Katrin |author5=Torres, Roxana |author6=Work, Thierry M. |author7=Stroud, Stedson |author8=Masello, Juan F. |author9=Quillfeldt, Petra |date=2012 |title=Infection by Haemoproteus parasites in four species of frigatebirds and the description of a new species of Haemoproteus (Haemosporida: Haemoproteidae) |journal=Journal of Parasitology |volume=98 |issue=2 |pages=388–97 |url=http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/hfs/Globals/Products/MerinoEA2012HaemoproteusFrigates.pdf |doi=10.1645/GE-2415.1 |pmid=21992108 |s2cid=3846342 |access-date=2015-05-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161210091542/https://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/hfs/Globals/Products/MerinoEA2012HaemoproteusFrigates.pdf |archive-date=2016-12-10 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Bird lice of the [[ischnocera]]n genus ''[[Pectinopygus]]'' and [[amblycera]]n genus ''[[Colpocephalum]]'' and species ''[[Fregatiella aurifasciata]]'' have been recovered from magnificent and great frigatebirds of the Galapagos Islands. Frigatebirds tended to have more parasitic lice than did boobies analysed in the same study.<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Rivera-Parra, Jose L. |author2=Levin, Iris I. |author3=Parker, Patricia G. |date=2014|title=Comparative ectoparasite loads of five seabird species in the Galapagos Islands|journal=Journal of Parasitology|volume=100|issue=5|pages=569–77|doi=10.1645/12-141.1|pmid=24911632|s2cid=9735489 }}</ref>

A heavy chick mortality at a large and important colony of the magnificent frigatebird, located on [[Îles du Connétable|Île du Grand Connétable]] off French Guiana, was recorded in summer 2005. Chicks showed nodular skin lesions, feather loss and corneal changes, with around half the year's progeny perishing across the colony. An [[Alphaherpesvirinae|alphaherpesvirus]] was isolated and provisionally named ''Fregata magnificens'' herpesvirus, though it was unclear whether it caused the outbreak or affected birds already suffering malnutrition.<ref name="de Thoisy">{{cite journal|author1=de Thoisy, Benoit |author2=Lavergne, Anne |author3=Semelin, Julien |author4=Pouliquen, Jean-François |author5=Blanchard, Fabian |author6=Hansen, Eric |author7=Lacoste, Vincent |date=2009 |title=Outbreaks of disease possibly due to a natural avian herpesvirus infection in a colony of young magnificent frigatebirds (''Fregata magnificens'') in French Guiana|journal= Journal of Wildlife Diseases|volume=45|issue=3|pages=802–07|pmid=19617492 |doi=10.7589/0090-3558-45.3.802|s2cid=13466300 |url=https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/2009/publication-6811.pdf }}</ref>