Filarial infections in California sea lions vary spatially within the Gulf of California, Mexico
| Autor: | Karina Acevedo-Whitehouse, Karen Adame-Fernández, Adriana Flores-Morán, Roberto Álvarez-Martínez, Mónica Farriols, Fausto Arellano-Carbajal, Etzel Garrido, Fernando R. Elorriaga-Verplancken, Rolando T. Bárcenas |
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| Rok vydání: | 2019 |
| Předmět: |
Zalophus californianus
Dirofilaria immitis 030231 tropical medicine Zoology Microfilaria California Parasite Load 030308 mycology & parasitology Filariasis 03 medical and health sciences 0302 clinical medicine parasitic diseases medicine Acanthocheilonema Animals Mexico Dirofilaria 0303 health sciences Rookery General Veterinary biology General Medicine Dipetalonema biology.organism_classification medicine.disease Sea Lions Infectious Diseases Insect Science Parasitology Female Dirofilariasis Acanthocheilonemiasis |
| Zdroj: | Parasitology research. 119(4) |
| ISSN: | 1432-1955 |
| Popis: | At least two species of filarial worms, Dirofilaria immitis and Acanthocheilonema (Dipetalonema) odendhali, infect otariid pinnipeds, including the California sea lion (Zalophus californianus). To date, evidence of infection in sea lions has come from dead or captive animals, and little is known about filariasis in free-living populations. We sampled 45 California sea lion adults and 197 pups captured at 12 rookeries from different ecological regions within the Gulf of California and detected and quantified D. immitis and A. odendhali microfilariae in blood smears. We investigated differences in prevalence and parasite load (intensity of infection) among ecological regions. Microfilariae were detected in the blood of 35 of the 45 (77.78%) adult females and in 1 of the 197 (0.51%) pups examined. The average burden of A. odendhali per microlitre of blood was nearly twice that of D. immitis. Prevalence and intensity of infection differed significantly among regions, being highest for colonies within the northern and northcentral regions and lowest in the southern region. Dirofilaria immitis and A. odendhali infections displayed a similar spatial pattern of prevalence. Colony density inversely predicted the prevalence of microfilariae. Based on the clinical parameters typically associated with filarial infections in carnivores and physical examinations, none of the sea lions appeared to have evidence of disease. This is a first approximation to investigate the prevalence of microfilaria infections in free-ranging California sea lions and to explore their relevance to population health. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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