Fatal pulmonary parafilaroidiasis in a free-ranging subantarctic fur seal (Arctocephalus tropicalis) coinfected with two gammaherpesviruses and Sarcocystis sp.

Abstract A juvenile subantarctic fur seal (Arctocephalus tropicalis) found dead in Santa Catarina state, southern Brazil, presented with disseminated verminous pneumonia due to Parafilaroides sp. A concomitant infection with two different gammaherpesviruses was identified by PCR in different tissues; one of them possibly a novel species (tentatively named Otariid herpesvirus 7). Sarcocystis sp. DNA was identified molecularly in skeletal muscle samples with intrasarcoplasmic bradyzoites and no apparent tissue response. All analyzed samples (mandibular, laryngeal, tracheal, and mesenteric lymph nodes, and lung) were PCR-negative for Brucella spp. The most likely cause of death was severe pulmonary parafilaroidiasis. The pathogenic role of the gammaherpesviruses in several of the tissues was not evident. This study describes the pathogenicity of Parafilaroides sp. in a subantarctic fur seal, widens the host range of herpesvirus in pinnipeds, and reports the first molecular identification of Sarcocystis sp. in this species.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Reisfeld,Laura, Sacristán,Carlos, Sánchez-Sarmiento,Angélica María, Costa-Silva,Samira, Díaz-Delgado,Josué, Groch,Kátia Regina, Marigo,Juliana, Ewbank,Ana Carolina, Favero,Cíntia Maria, Guerra,Juliana Mariotti, Réssio,Rodrigo Albergaria, Cremer,Marta Jussara, Esperón,Fernando, Catão-Dias,José Luiz
Format:	Digital revista
Language:	English
Published:	Colégio Brasileiro de Parasitologia Veterinária 2019
Online Access:	http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1984-29612019000300499
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