Vanstreels et al 2015.pdf (755.45 kB)
Epidemiology and molecular phylogeny of Babesia sp. in little penguins Eudyptula minor in Australia
journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-18, 16:05 authored by Vanstreels, RET, Woehler, EJ, Ruoppolo, V, Vertigan, P, Carlile, N, Priddel, D, Finger, A, Dann, P, Herrin, KV, Thompson, P, Ferreira Junior, FC, Braga, EM, Hurtado, R, Epiphanio, S, Catao-Dias, JLBlood parasites are potential threats to the health of penguins and to their conservation and management. Little penguins Eudyptula minor are native to Australia and New Zealand, and are susceptible to piroplasmids (Babesia), hemosporidians (Haemoproteus, Leucocytozoon, Plasmodium) and kinetoplastids (Trypanosoma). We studied a total of 263 wild little penguins at 20 sites along the Australian southeastern coast, in addition to 16 captive-bred little penguins. Babesia sp. was identified in seven wild little penguins, with positive individuals recorded in New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. True prevalence was estimated between 3.4% and 4.5%. Only round forms of the parasite were observed, and gene sequencing confirmed the identity of the parasite and demonstrated it is closely related to Babesia poelea from boobies (Sula spp.) and B. uriae from murres (Uria aalge). None of the Babesia-positive penguins presented signs of disease, confirming earlier suggestions that chronic infections by these parasites are not substantially problematic to otherwise healthy little penguins. We searched also for kinetoplastids, and despite targeted sampling of little penguins near the location where Trypanosoma eudyptulae was originally reported, this parasite was not detected.
History
Publication title
International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and WildlifeVolume
4Pagination
198-205ISSN
2213-2244Department/School
Institute for Marine and Antarctic StudiesPublisher
Elsevier Sci LtdPlace of publication
United KingdomRights statement
Copyright 2015 The Authors Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/Repository Status
- Open