title: Aerobic bacterial flora of the vagina and prepuce of California sea lions (Zalophus californianus) and investigation of associations with urogenital carcinoma.
abstract: To investigate the association between genital bacterial infection and urogenital carcinoma in California sea lions (Zalophus californianus), vaginal and preputial swabs for bacterial isolation were taken from 148 free-ranging and 51 stranded California sea lions including 16 animals with urogenital carcinoma. Cytological examination of vaginal or preputial smears showed a majority (65.5%, 57/87) of animals examined had mild or no inflammation. Aerobic bacteria were isolated from 116 (78.4%) wild sea lions and 100% of stranded animals. A total of 403 isolates were identified representing 51 unique bacterial species. The median number of isolates per animal increased with age in the wild group, but there was no difference in the number of isolates per animal between wild and stranded adults. The most common bacteria isolated from the wild sea lions were Psychrobacter phenylpyruvicus (39 isolates), non-hemolytic Streptococcus (35 isolates), Corynebacterium spp. (30 isolates), and Escherichia coli (20 isolates). More bacterial species were isolated from stranded animals than wild animals (33 versus 26) and there was significantly less growth of P. phenylpyruvicus, Corynebacterium spp., and Moraxella-like spp. in the stranded animals. Beta-hemolytic Streptococcus was the only bacterium significantly associated with urogenital carcinomas in California sea lions, but only in females.
authors.affiliation: Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, Department of Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology, School of Veterinary Medicine, One Shields Ave., University of California, Davis, 95616, USA. spjohnson@ucdavis.edu
authors.forename: Shawn
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lowenstine
authors.forename: Frances
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gulland
authors.forename: Spencer
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jang
authors.forename: Denise
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Imai
authors.forename: Frederic
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Almy
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Delong
authors.forename: Ian
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Gardner
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D001420:Bacteria, Aerobic / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D006460:Hemolysin Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D008297:Male; D010413:Penis / Q000382:microbiology*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000662:veterinary; D046070:Sea Lions / Q000382:microbiology*; D012737:Sex Factors; D013108:Sphingomyelin Phosphodiesterase / Q000235:genetics; D013291:Streptococcus / Q000302:isolation & purification; D014565:Urogenital Neoplasms / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D014621:Vagina / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D001427:Bacterial Toxins; D006460:Hemolysin Proteins; D013108:Sphingomyelin Phosphodiesterase; C029878:hlb protein, Staphylococcus aureus