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Blood parasites in endangered wildlife-trypanosomes discovered during a survey of haemoprotozoa from the Tasmanian devil

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posted on 2023-05-20, 20:47 authored by Egan, SL, Ruiz-Aravena, M, Austen, JM, Barton, X, Comte, S, David HamiltonDavid Hamilton, Rodrigo Hamede RossRodrigo Hamede Ross, Ryan, UM, Irwin, PJ, Menna JonesMenna Jones, Oskam, CL
he impact of emerging infectious diseases is increasingly recognised as a major threat to wildlife. Wild populations of the endangered Tasmanian devil, Sarcophilus harrisii, are experiencing devastating losses from a novel transmissible cancer, devil facial tumour disease (DFTD); however, despite the rapid decline of this species, there is currently no information on the presence of haemoprotozoan parasites. In the present study, 95 Tasmanian devil blood samples were collected from four populations in Tasmania, Australia, which underwent molecular screening to detect four major groups of haemoprotozoa: (i) trypanosomes, (ii) piroplasms, (iii) Hepatozoon, and (iv) haemosporidia. Sequence results revealed Trypanosoma infections in 32/95 individuals. Trypanosoma copemani was identified in 10 Tasmanian devils from three sites and a second Trypanosoma sp. was identified in 22 individuals that were grouped within the poorly described T. cyclops clade. A single blood sample was positive for Babesia sp., which most closely matched Babesia lohae. No other blood protozoan parasite DNA was detected. This study provides the first insight into haemoprotozoa from the Tasmanian devil and the first identification of Trypanosoma and Babesia in this carnivorous marsupial.

Funding

National Science Foundation

History

Publication title

Pathogens

Volume

9

Issue

11

Article number

873

Number

873

Pagination

1-18

ISSN

2076-0817

Department/School

School of Natural Sciences

Publisher

MDPI

Place of publication

Switzerland

Rights statement

Copyright 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Repository Status

  • Open

Socio-economic Objectives

Control of pests, diseases and exotic species in terrestrial environments