First report of an intraerythrocytic small piroplasm in wild Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus).
A wild injured Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus) was taken from the Sierra Morena population. During the health check small intraerythrocytic piroplasms, morphologically indistinguishable from other feline piroplasms, were observed in Wright-Giemsa-stained blood films. Amplification by polymerase chain reaction of a portion of the 18S nuclear small subunit (NSS) rRNA gene and sequencing revealed similarity of the unknown organism with sequences obtained from Pallas's cat from Mongolia and from a domestic cat in Spain. In a retrospective (1993-2003) study of 50 Iberian lynx tissue samples, no amplifications of the 18S NSS rRNA gene of the organism were obtained. This is the first report of a naturally occurring erythroparasitemia in the Iberian lynx and the first documented case of naturally occurring piroplasm infection in a free-ranging felid from Europe.
Luaces
Inés
I
Gir diagnostics S.L., Madrid, Spain. ines@girdiagnostics.com
Aguirre
Enara
E
García-Montijano
Marino
M
Velarde
Jorge
J
Tesouro
Miguel A
MA
Sánchez
Celia
C
Galka
Margarita
M
Fernández
Pilar
P
Sainz
Angel
A
D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild / Q000469:parasitology; D001403:Babesia / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D001404:Babesiosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000737:chemistry; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000737:chemistry; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000469:parasitology*; D046008:Lynx / Q000469:parasitology; D008297:Male; D018512:Parasitemia / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods / Q000662:veterinary; D011529:Protozoan Infections, Animal / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016053:RNA, Protozoan / Q000235:genetics; D012335:RNA, Ribosomal / Q000235:genetics; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology
D016054:DNA, Protozoan; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal; D016053:RNA, Protozoan; D012335:RNA, Ribosomal