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
species conservation
pathology
Cara Field
Pádraig Duignan
Carlos Rios
Meet The Experts
{"image":"\/People\/Portrait\/cropped-images\/Padraig Duignan-0-56-635-496-1601760621.jpg","alt":"Padraig Duignan","title":"P\u00e1draig Duignan","text":"Director of 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":"Clinical Laboratory Senior Manager","link_url":"https:\/\/www.marinemammalcenter.org\/person\/carlos-rios","link_text":"Read Bio"}
Related Publications
{"image":"\/Animals\/Patients\/Elephant seals\/es-photo-by-bill-hunnewell-c-the-marine-mammal-center-1.jpg","alt":"northern elephant seal","title":"Muscle-Wasting Disease in Elephant Seal Pups","link_url":"https:\/\/www.marinemammalcenter.org\/publications\/muscle-wasting-disease-in-elephant-seal-pups","label":"Research Paper"}
{"image":"\/Animals\/Wild\/Bottlenose dolphin\/bottlenose-dolphins-leaping-shutterstock.jpg","alt":"dolphins leaping out of the water","title":"Fresh Water Skin Disease in Dolphins","link_url":"https:\/\/www.marinemammalcenter.org\/publications\/fresh-water-skin-disease-in-dolphins","label":"Research Paper"}
{"image":"\/Animals\/Wild\/Sea otter\/cropped-images\/sea-otter-grooming-head-shutterstock-22-86-3617-2826-1616709449.jpg","alt":"sea otter grooming","title":"Parasitic Skin Disease in Threatened Southern Sea Otters","link_url":"https:\/\/www.marinemammalcenter.org\/publications\/parasitic-skin-disease-in-threatened-southern-sea-otters","label":"Research Paper"}
{"image":"\/Animals\/Wild\/Other species\/cropped-images\/stejnegers-beaked-whale-photo-c-marc-webber-0-0-949-742-1618440217.jpg","alt":"Stejneger's beaked whales","title":"Stejneger's Beaked Whale Strandings in Alaska, 1995\u20132020","link_url":"https:\/\/www.marinemammalcenter.org\/publications\/stejnegers-beaked-whale-strandings-in-alaska-1995-2020","label":"Research Paper"}
Related News
{"image":"\/Animals\/Wild\/Gray whale\/cropped-images\/2025-03-30-gray-whale-BlackSandsBeach-c-the-marine-mammal-center-206-0-1270-992-1743546220.jpg","alt":"stranded gray whale","title":"Experts respond to a dead gray whale in the Marin Headlands as sightings of the species increase in San Francisco","link_url":"https:\/\/www.marinemammalcenter.org\/news\/experts-respond-to-a-dead-gray-whale-in-the-marin-headlands-as-sightings-of-the-species-increase-in-san-francisco","label":"Press Release","date":"2025-04-01 02:00:00"}
Experts respond to a dead gray whale in the Marin Headlands as sightings of the species increase in San Francisco
April 1, 2025
Read More{"image":"\/Animals\/Wild\/Gray whale\/cropped-images\/gray-whale-tail-sf-skyline-by-darrin-allen-c-the-marine-mammal-center-60-0-624-487-1719870230.jpg","alt":"gray whale tail seen above water with San Francisco skyline in the distance","title":"Mercury News: Lots of Gray Whales Are Swimming Under the Golden Gate Bridge into San Francisco Bay. Why?","link_url":"https:\/\/www.marinemammalcenter.org\/news\/mercury-news-lots-of-gray-whales-are-swimming-under-the-golden-gate-bridge-into-san-francisco-bay-why","label":"In the News","date":"2024-06-24 02:00:00"}
Mercury News: Lots of Gray Whales Are Swimming Under the Golden Gate Bridge into San Francisco Bay. Why?
June 24, 2024
Read More{"image":"\/Animals\/Wild\/Bottlenose dolphin\/cropped-images\/bottlenose-dolphins-leaping-shutterstock-391-0-3448-2693-1605038111.jpg","alt":"two dolphins leaping out of the waves","title":"\u201cThe Dolphin Dilemma\u201d Documentary Makes Waves On Film Festival Circuit","link_url":"https:\/\/www.marinemammalcenter.org\/news\/the-dolphin-dilemma-documentary-makes-waves-on-film-festival-circuit","label":"News Update","date":"2024-05-30 02:00:00"}
“The Dolphin Dilemma” Documentary Makes Waves On Film Festival Circuit
May 30, 2024
Read More{"image":"\/Animals\/Wild\/Gray whale\/cropped-images\/gray-whale-muir-beach-c-the-marine-mammal-center-66-2-1533-1198-1617991349.jpg","alt":"gray whale in shallow water","title":"LA Times: Starvation Has Decimated Gray Whales - Can the Giants Ever Recover?","link_url":"https:\/\/www.marinemammalcenter.org\/news\/la-times-starvation-has-decimated-gray-whales-can-the-giants-ever-recover","label":"In the News","date":"2024-03-27 02:00:00"}
LA Times: Starvation Has Decimated Gray Whales - Can the Giants Ever Recover?
March 27, 2024
Read More