The prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in polar bears and their marine mammal prey: evidence for a marine transmission pathway?

Jensen, Silje-Kristin; Aars, Jon; Lydersen, Christian; Kovacs, Kit M.; Åsbakk, Kjetil

doi:10.1007/s00300-009-0735-x

Cited by 76 publications

(64 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…Resale or republication not permitted without written consent of the publisher Jensen et al 2010, Carlson-Bremer et al 2015 and exposure does not necessarily imply negative effects on the health of the infected host. However symptomatic and life threatening protozoal infections are being detected with increasing frequency in a variety of marine mammals, most notably the southern sea otter Enhydra lutris (Miller et al 2002a, 2008a, Conrad et al 2005.…”

Section: Sarco Cystis · Pinnipedmentioning

confidence: 99%

Protozoal-related mortalities in endangered Hawaiian monk seals Neomonachus schauinslandi

Barbieri

Kashinsky

Rotstein³

et al. 2016

Dis. Aquat. Org.

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Section: Sarco Cystis · Pinnipedmentioning

confidence: 99%

Protozoal-related mortalities in endangered Hawaiian monk seals Neomonachus schauinslandi

Barbieri

Kashinsky

Rotstein³

et al. 2016

Dis. Aquat. Org.

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“…Surveys of apparently healthy seals in remote areas considered to be relatively pristine have demonstrated exposure to zoonotic bacteria such as Brucella spp., and protozoa such as Giardia, T. gondii, and Sarcocystis neurona (Olson et al 1997, Dubey et al 2003, Zarnke et al 2006, Jensen et al 2010, highlighting the role that marine mammals may play both as sentinels of pathogen pollution in the marine environment and as potential reservoirs for pathogens that could affect humans (Ross 2000). There are thus a variety of zoonotic organisms in the marine environment that can impact both marine mammal and human health.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Surveillance for zoonotic and selected pathogens in harbor seals Phoca vitulina from central California

Greig¹,

Gulland²,

Smith³

et al. 2014

Dis. Aquat. Org.

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The infection status of harbor seals Phoca vitulina in central California, USA, was evaluated through broad surveillance for pathogens in stranded and wild-caught animals from 2001 to 2008, with most samples collected in 2007 and 2008. Stranded animals from Mendocino County to San Luis Obispo County were sampled at a rehabilitation facility: The Marine Mammal Center (TMMC, n = 175); wild-caught animals were sampled at 2 locations: San Francisco Bay (SF, n = 78) and Tomales Bay (TB, n = 97), that differed in degree of urbanization. Low prevalences of Salmonella, Campylobacter, Giardia, and Cryptosporidium were detected in the feces of stranded and wild-caught seals. Clostridium perfringens and Escherichia coli were more prevalent in the feces of stranded (58% [78 out of 135] and 76% [102 out of 135]) than wild-caught (42% [45 out of 106] and 66% [68 out of 106]) seals, whereas Vibrio spp. were 16 times more likely to be cultured from the feces of seals from SF than TB or TMMC (p < 0.005). Brucella DNA was detected in 3.4% of dead stranded harbor seals (2 out of 58). Type A influenza was isolated from feces of 1 out of 96 wild-caught seals. Exposure to Toxoplasma gondii, Sarcocystis neurona, and type A influenza was only detected in the wild-caught harbor seals (post-weaning age classes), whereas antibody titers to Leptospira spp. were detected in stranded and wild-caught seals. No stranded (n = 109) or wildcaught (n = 217) harbor seals had antibodies to phocine distemper virus, although a single low titer to canine distemper virus was detected. These results highlight the role of harbor seals as sentinel species for zoonotic and terrestrial pathogens in the marine environment.KEY WORDS: Campylobacter · Leptospira · Influenza · Morbillivirus · Neospora · Sarcocystis · Toxoplasma · Vibrio Resale or republication not permitted without written consent of the publisherDis Aquat Org 111: [93][94][95][96][97][98][99][100][101][102][103][104][105][106] 2014 affect marine mammals are zoonoses, raising concerns that marine mammal excretions may pose a risk to human health (Knap et al. 2002). Human exposure by fecal, oral, or respiratory routes could occur in the water, on docks, boats, or beaches, or through occupational health exposure.Zoonotic pathogens known to cause disease in harbor seals include influenza A (Geraci et al. 1982, Anthony et al. 2012, Brucella (Garner et al. 1997), Toxoplasma gondii (Lapointe et al. 1998, Miller et al. 2001, and Leptospira interrogans (Stamper et al. 1998, Stevens et al. 1999. Surveys of apparently healthy seals in remote areas considered to be relatively pristine have demonstrated exposure to zoonotic bacteria such as Brucella spp., and protozoa such as Giardia, T. gondii, and Sarcocystis neurona (Olson et al. 1997, Dubey et al. 2003, Zarnke et al. 2006, Jensen et al. 2010, highlighting the role that marine mammals may play both as sentinels of pathogen pollution in the marine environment and as potential reservoirs for pathogens that could affect humans (Ross 2000). There...

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“…Antibodies against T. gondii have been detected in several species of marine mammals [5,[9][10][11][12]. Not only the occurrence of antibodies to T. gondii is known, but the clinical toxoplasmosis has been diagnosed in different species such as Mirounga angustirostris, Callorhinus ursinus, Phoca vitulina richardii, Zalophus californianus, Tursiops truncatus, Stenella coeruleoalba, Tursiops truncatus aduncus, Stenella longirostris, Grampus griseus, Sotalia fluviaatilis guinensis, Trichechus manatus, Delphinapterus leucas [9,10].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Detection of antibodies against Toxoplasma gondii in Mirounga leonina Linnaeus, 1758 (Pinnipedia, Phocidae) from Elephant Island

Silveira¹,

Quevedo²,

Remião³

et al. 2016

J Coast Life Med

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The prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in polar bears and their marine mammal prey: evidence for a marine transmission pathway?

Cited by 76 publications

References 51 publications

Protozoal-related mortalities in endangered Hawaiian monk seals Neomonachus schauinslandi

Protozoal-related mortalities in endangered Hawaiian monk seals Neomonachus schauinslandi

Surveillance for zoonotic and selected pathogens in harbor seals Phoca vitulina from central California

Detection of antibodies against Toxoplasma gondii in Mirounga leonina Linnaeus, 1758 (Pinnipedia, Phocidae) from Elephant Island

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