Renal Flagellate Infections in Reptiles: 29 Cases

Juan‐Sallés, Carles; Garner, Michael M.; Nordhausen, Robert W.; Valls, Xavier; Gallego, Miguel; Soto, Sara

doi:10.1638/2013-0195.1

Cited by 15 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…In contrast to helminths, much less is known about occurrence and pathogenicity of intestinal protozoans in captive reptiles [ 7 , 10 ]. Species of most intestinal flagellate genera such as Trepomonas , Trimitus , Chilomastix and Retortamonas are not considered pathogenic, or their pathogenicity is still unknown [ 7 , 12 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Tritrichomonas ), and facultative parasites (i.e. Blastocystis ) in pet tortoises [ 10 , 37 ]. Blastocystis infections are often found in clinically healthy reptiles [ 37 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At the same time, tortoises are becoming increasingly popular domestic pets [ 4 , 5 ]. Exotic reptiles originating from the wild (including tortoises), in particular, are often infected with a variety of different invasive parasites, harbouring a broad spectrum of endogenous parasites including diverse species of protozoans, nematodes, cestodes, pentastomids, acanthocephalans and trematodes [ 6 – 10 ]. Tortoises specifically are not exclusively infected by gastrointestinal parasites such as oxyurids, ascarids and protozoans, but also carry diverse ectoparasites.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Occurrence of health-compromising protozoan and helminth infections in tortoises kept as pet animals in Germany

et al. 2018

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BackgroundExotic reptiles such as tortoises, have become increasingly common domestic pets worldwide and are known to host different gastrointestinal parasites. Some of these parasites bear zoonotic potential. In the present survey, we parasitologically examined tortoise faecal samples (n = 1005) from 19 different species held as pets in private German households and German zoological gardens.MethodsSaline faecal smears were used to generate prevalence data for potentially health-compromising gastrointestinal parasites. In addition, we performed complete parasitological dissections of dead tortoises (n = 49) to estimate endoparasite burdens precisely.ResultsAnalysed tortoise faecal samples contained a broad spectrum of endoparasites. We detected ten taxa of endoparasites; oxyurid nematodes (e.g. Tachygonetria spp.) were the most prevalent parasites in faecal samples (43.18%), followed by ascarids (Angusticaecum spp.) (0.01%), Hexamita spp. (0.007%), Balantidium spp. (0.007%), trichomonads (0.004%), Strongyloides spp. (0.003%), Entamoeba spp. (0.005%), Hartmanella spp. (0.001%), Blastocystis spp. (0.002%), heterakids (0.001%) and Trimitus spp. (0.001%). Additionally, we investigated dead tortoise individuals (n = 49; of 10 different species) for aetiological diagnosis and estimation of endoparasite burden. Of these individuals, 38 (77.6%) were infected with parasites and 14 (28.6%) of them died most probably due to severe parasitic infection. Oxyurid infections correlated positively with calcium deficiency and metabolic bone disease (MBD) as well as nephrosis/nephritis, mainly occurring in juvenile tortoises (< 5 years of age).ConclusionsThe saline faecal smear technique proved to be efficient in detecting different metazoan and protozoan parasite stages in tortoise faeces. The prevalence of oxyurid infections was particularly high. In combination with pathological findings in clinical oxyuridosis obtained from necropsied animals, our findings call for further, detailed investigations on pathogenesis and immunology of oxyurids in pet reptiles. Coprological analyses for parasite detection should be mandatory before tortoises are transferred to a new owner, animal group, or public and private enclosures such as zoos. We advocate for regular health screenings in pet tortoises and, if parasitic infections are diagnosed, adequate medication or alternative hygiene management should be considered to improve and maintain individual and population health.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s13071-018-2936-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Tritrichomonas ), and facultative parasites (i.e. Blastocystis ) in pet tortoises [ 10 , 37 ]. Blastocystis infections are often found in clinically healthy reptiles [ 37 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Occurrence of health-compromising protozoan and helminth infections in tortoises kept as pet animals in Germany

et al. 2018

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“…), amphibians (Kulda and Lom ), reptiles (Juan‐Sallés et al. ), birds (particularly game birds and turkeys) (Cooper et al. ), and mammals (particularly rodents and nonhuman primates) (Bailey et al.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Swarming and Aggregation in the Parasitic Diplomonad Flagellate Spironucleus vortens

Poynton

Ostrenga

Witwer

2018

J Eukaryotic Microbiology

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Pathogenicity, evolutionary history, and unusual cell organization of diplomonads are well known, particularly for Giardia and Spironucleus; however, behavior of these aerotolerant anaerobes is largely unknown. Addressing this deficit, we studied behavior of the piscine diplomonad Spironucleus vortens (ATCC 50386) in in vitro culture. Spironucleus vortens trophozoites from Angelfish, Pterophyllum scalare, were maintained axenically in modified liver digest, yeast extract, and iron (LYI) medium, at 22°C in the dark, and subcultured weekly. Cultures were monitored every 1-2 d, by removing an aliquot, and loading cells into a hemocytometer chamber, or onto a regular microscope slide. We observed three distinct swimming behaviors: (i) spontaneous formation of swarms, reaching 200 lm in diameter, persisting for up to several min in situ, (ii) directional movement of the swarm, via collective motility, and (iii) independent swimming of trophozoites to form a band (aggregation), presumably at the location of optimal environmental conditions. These behaviors have not previously been reported in Spironucleus. The observation that flagellate motility can change, from individual self-propulsion to complex collective swarming motility, prompts us to advocate S. vortens as a new model for study of group behavioral dynamics, complementing emerging studies of collective swimming in flagellated bacteria.

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Herptile Cytodiagnosis

2022

Exotic Animal Hematology and Cytology

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Renal Flagellate Infections in Reptiles: 29 Cases

Cited by 15 publications

References 10 publications

Occurrence of health-compromising protozoan and helminth infections in tortoises kept as pet animals in Germany

Occurrence of health-compromising protozoan and helminth infections in tortoises kept as pet animals in Germany

Swarming and Aggregation in the Parasitic Diplomonad Flagellate Spironucleus vortens

Herptile Cytodiagnosis

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