Fatal toxoplasmosis in Little Penguins (Eudyptula minor) from Penguin Island, Western Australia
Routine post mortems of deceased penguins from Penguin Island, Western Australia, found that a temporal cluster of cases presented with characteristic gross and microscopic changes, namely birds in good body condition with hepatomegaly and splenomegaly, multifocal hepatic and splenic necrosis and nu...
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2022
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ftmurdochuniv:oai:researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au:63965 2023-05-15T17:55:06+02:00 Fatal toxoplasmosis in Little Penguins (Eudyptula minor) from Penguin Island, Western Australia Campbell, K. Paparini, A. Gomez, A.B. Cannell, B. Stephens, N. 2022 https://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/63965/ eng eng Elsevier Ltd on behalf of Australian Society for Parasitology https://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/63965/ full_text_status:public © 2022 The Authors. Campbell, K., Paparini, A. <https://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/view/author/Paparini, Andrea.html>orcid:0000-0002-1105-5184 , Gomez, A.B., Cannell, B. <https://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/view/author/Cannell, Belinda.html> and Stephens, N. <https://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/view/author/Stephens, Nahiid.html> (2022) Fatal toxoplasmosis in Little Penguins (Eudyptula minor) from Penguin Island, Western Australia. International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife, 17 . pp. 211-217. Journal Article 2022 ftmurdochuniv 2022-02-28T23:27:09Z Routine post mortems of deceased penguins from Penguin Island, Western Australia, found that a temporal cluster of cases presented with characteristic gross and microscopic changes, namely birds in good body condition with hepatomegaly and splenomegaly, multifocal hepatic and splenic necrosis and numerous, 1–2 μm diameter protozoan parasites within the necrotic foci. Electron microscopy identified the protozoa as belonging to the phylum Apicomplexa. Molecular investigations by PCR gave inconsistent results. PCR performed by an external laboratory identified a novel Haemoproteus spp. organism in samples from 4 of 10 cases from this group, while PCR at Murdoch University identified Toxoplasma gondii in 12 of 13 cases (including 9 of the 10 assayed at the external laboratory). Immunohistochemistry of formalin fixed tissues also identified Toxoplasma in the hepatic and splenic lesions. The distinctive mortalities which were observed in this group of penguins are attributed to a fulminant toxoplasmosis, with a concurrent Haemoproteus infection in some cases. Though the clinical signs of infection are unknown, the gross and microscopic appearance at post mortem is sufficiently characteristic to allow a diagnosis to be made on these features. Definitive confirmation of Toxoplasma infection can be made by immunohistochemistry or PCR. Article in Journal/Newspaper Penguin Island Murdoch University: Murdoch Research Repository Penguin Island ENVELOPE(-57.926,-57.926,-62.102,-62.102) Murdoch ENVELOPE(-44.666,-44.666,-60.783,-60.783) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Murdoch University: Murdoch Research Repository |
op_collection_id |
ftmurdochuniv |
language |
English |
description |
Routine post mortems of deceased penguins from Penguin Island, Western Australia, found that a temporal cluster of cases presented with characteristic gross and microscopic changes, namely birds in good body condition with hepatomegaly and splenomegaly, multifocal hepatic and splenic necrosis and numerous, 1–2 μm diameter protozoan parasites within the necrotic foci. Electron microscopy identified the protozoa as belonging to the phylum Apicomplexa. Molecular investigations by PCR gave inconsistent results. PCR performed by an external laboratory identified a novel Haemoproteus spp. organism in samples from 4 of 10 cases from this group, while PCR at Murdoch University identified Toxoplasma gondii in 12 of 13 cases (including 9 of the 10 assayed at the external laboratory). Immunohistochemistry of formalin fixed tissues also identified Toxoplasma in the hepatic and splenic lesions. The distinctive mortalities which were observed in this group of penguins are attributed to a fulminant toxoplasmosis, with a concurrent Haemoproteus infection in some cases. Though the clinical signs of infection are unknown, the gross and microscopic appearance at post mortem is sufficiently characteristic to allow a diagnosis to be made on these features. Definitive confirmation of Toxoplasma infection can be made by immunohistochemistry or PCR. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Campbell, K. Paparini, A. Gomez, A.B. Cannell, B. Stephens, N. |
spellingShingle |
Campbell, K. Paparini, A. Gomez, A.B. Cannell, B. Stephens, N. Fatal toxoplasmosis in Little Penguins (Eudyptula minor) from Penguin Island, Western Australia |
author_facet |
Campbell, K. Paparini, A. Gomez, A.B. Cannell, B. Stephens, N. |
author_sort |
Campbell, K. |
title |
Fatal toxoplasmosis in Little Penguins (Eudyptula minor) from Penguin Island, Western Australia |
title_short |
Fatal toxoplasmosis in Little Penguins (Eudyptula minor) from Penguin Island, Western Australia |
title_full |
Fatal toxoplasmosis in Little Penguins (Eudyptula minor) from Penguin Island, Western Australia |
title_fullStr |
Fatal toxoplasmosis in Little Penguins (Eudyptula minor) from Penguin Island, Western Australia |
title_full_unstemmed |
Fatal toxoplasmosis in Little Penguins (Eudyptula minor) from Penguin Island, Western Australia |
title_sort |
fatal toxoplasmosis in little penguins (eudyptula minor) from penguin island, western australia |
publisher |
Elsevier Ltd on behalf of Australian Society for Parasitology |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/63965/ |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-57.926,-57.926,-62.102,-62.102) ENVELOPE(-44.666,-44.666,-60.783,-60.783) |
geographic |
Penguin Island Murdoch |
geographic_facet |
Penguin Island Murdoch |
genre |
Penguin Island |
genre_facet |
Penguin Island |
op_source |
Campbell, K., Paparini, A. <https://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/view/author/Paparini, Andrea.html>orcid:0000-0002-1105-5184 , Gomez, A.B., Cannell, B. <https://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/view/author/Cannell, Belinda.html> and Stephens, N. <https://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/view/author/Stephens, Nahiid.html> (2022) Fatal toxoplasmosis in Little Penguins (Eudyptula minor) from Penguin Island, Western Australia. International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife, 17 . pp. 211-217. |
op_relation |
https://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/63965/ full_text_status:public |
op_rights |
© 2022 The Authors. |
_version_ |
1766162969095307264 |