Mycoplasmas in Galapagos Sea Lions and Their Association with Other Respiratory Pathogens
- Infectious disease
- Species conservation
- Pathology
Abstract
During the 2018 breeding season, an outbreak of respiratory disease occurred among Galapagos sea lions (Zalophus wollebaeki) that inhabit rookeries near urban areas with introduced fauna such as dogs and cats. Several sea lions had nasal discharge and respiratory distress and were in poor body condition. Eighteen sea lions were captured for a general health assessment including collection of blood for serology and nasal discharge for culture and PCR. Samples were analyzed for 15 respiratory pathogens known to infect cats, dogs, and marine mammals. There was no evidence for interspecies pathogen transmission between Galapagos sea lions and domestic animals. Several bacterial pathogens associated with respiratory tract infection in the California sea lion (Zalophus californianus) were isolated. Mycoplasma spp. were identified by PCR in nasal discharge samples but were not the species commonly found in cats and dogs.
Sarzosa, M. S., Duignan, P., DeRango, E. J., Field, C., Ríos, C., Sanchez, S., Espinoza, E., Loyola, A., Rueda, D., & Páez-Rosas, D., 2021. Occurrence of Mycoplasmas in Galapagos Sea Lions (Zalophus wollebaeki) and their Association with Other Respiratory Pathogens. Journal of Wildlife Diseases
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{"image":"\/People\/Portrait\/cropped-images\/PD_Gray whale Pacifica_IMG_0552-0-0-1270-992-1775170630.jpeg","alt":"Padraig Duignan","title":"P\u00e1draig Duignan","text":"Senior Director, Research Pathology","link_url":"https:\/\/www.marinemammalcenter.org\/person\/padraig-duignan","link_text":"Read Bio"}
{"image":"\/People\/Portrait\/cara-field.jpg","alt":"Cara Field","title":"Cara Field","text":"Director, Conservation Medicine","link_url":"https:\/\/www.marinemammalcenter.org\/person\/cara-field","link_text":"Read Bio"}
{"image":"\/People\/Portrait\/cropped-images\/carlos-rios-0-180-1160-906-1605722153.jpg","alt":"Carlos Rios","title":"Carlos Rios","text":"Associate Director, Pathology and Diagnostics","link_url":"https:\/\/www.marinemammalcenter.org\/person\/carlos-rios","link_text":"Read Bio"}
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