title: Fatal infection with Taenia martis metacestodes in a ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta) living in an Italian zoological garden.
abstract: A case of fatal infection caused by larval forms of Taenia martis in a ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta) living in the Rome zoological garden is described. The animal, living in a semi-natural pen with other 15 conspecific individuals and being fed with fresh fruit and vegetables, yoghurt and eggs, was transported to the Istituto Zooprofilattico of Rome for post-mortem examination. The anamnesis included, ten days before the death, apathy, lack of appetite, abdominal distension and diarrhoea. A severe exudative fibrinous-purulent peritonitis with numerous adhesions between the abdominal wall and the bowel loops was detected. After intestine removal, two free and viable, 4 cm long, whitish, leaf-like parasitic forms were pinpointed. Macroscopic examination of the two parasites allowed their identification as larval stages of cestodes, identified via molecular analysis as T. martis metacestodes. This report represents the first record of T. martis infection in the host species and in a zoological garden and for the pathological relevance of the infection.
authors.affiliation: Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Regioni Lazio e Toscana, Via Appia Nuova 1411, 00178 Rome, Italy. Electronic address: claudio.deliberato@izslt.it.
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: De Liberato
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Medicina Sperimentale e Chirurgia, Università di Roma Tor Vergata, Via Montpellier 1, 00133 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Federica
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Berrilli
authors.affiliation: Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Regioni Lazio e Toscana, Via Appia Nuova 1411, 00178 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Roberta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Meoli
authors.affiliation: Fondazione Bioparco, Viale del Giardino Zoologico, 100197 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Klaus G
authors.initials: KG
authors.lastname: Friedrich
authors.affiliation: Fondazione Bioparco, Viale del Giardino Zoologico, 100197 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Pilar
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Di Cerbo
authors.affiliation: Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Regioni Lazio e Toscana, Via Appia Nuova 1411, 00178 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Cristiano
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cocumelli
authors.affiliation: Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Regioni Lazio e Toscana, Via Appia Nuova 1411, 00178 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Eleni
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000836:Animals, Zoo; D003551:Cysticercosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D007900:Lemur; D010538:Peritonitis / Q000469:parasitology / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary; D010802:Phylogeny; D013621:Taenia / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics
keywords: Italy; Larval cestode; Lemur catta; Taenia martis; Zoological garden