First Report of a Novel Hepatozoon sp. in Giant Pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca)

Yu, Jennifer H.; Durrant, Kate L.; Liu, Songrui; Carlin, Ellen P.; Wang, Chengdong; Rodriguez, Juan; Bratthauer, Ann; Walsh, Tim; Valitutto, Marc T.; Fine, Leah; Murray, Suzan; Fleischer, Robert C.

Abstract

The first report of giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) infected with a novel Hepatozoon species is presented. An intraleukocytic parasite was detected via routine blood smear from a zoo-housed giant panda at the National Zoological Park. Ribosomal DNA sequences indicated a previously undescribed Hepatozoon species. Phylogenetic and distance analyses of the sequences placed it within its own branch, clustered with Old World species with carnivore (primarily ursid and mustelid) hosts. Retrospective and opportunistic testing of other individuals produced additional positive detections (17/23, 73.9%), demonstrating 100% prevalence (14/14) across five institutions. All animals were asymptomatic at time of sampling, and health implications for giant pandas remain unknown.

Citation

Yu, J. H., Durrant, K. L., Liu, S., Carlin, E. P., Wang, C., Rodriguez, J., Bratthauer, A., Walsh, T., Valitutto, M. T., Fine, L., Murray, S., & Fleischer, R. C. (2019). First Report of a Novel Hepatozoon sp. in Giant Pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca). EcoHealth, 16(2), 338=345. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10393-019-01416-4

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Mar 19, 2019
• Online Publication Date: May 30, 2019
• Publication Date: 2019-06
• Deposit Date: May 31, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: May 31, 2020
• Journal: EcoHealth
• Print ISSN: 1612-9202
• Electronic ISSN: 1612-9210
• Publisher: Springer Verlag
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 16
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 338=345
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10393-019-01416-4
• Keywords: Ecology; Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/2116197
• Publisher URL: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10393-019-01416-4
• Additional Information: Received: 4 September 2018; Revised: 19 March 2019; Accepted: 19 March 2019; First Online: 30 May 2019; : ; : The authors declare no conflict of interest.
• Contract Date: May 31, 2019