title: Acute fatal sarcocystosis hepatitis in an Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops aduncus) in Hong Kong.
abstract: Unlike most species in the genus Sarcocystis, Sarcocystis canis has a broad intermediate host range. Its life cycle is incompletely known and most reports are from the USA. Here we report fatal hepatitis in a 4year old male Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops aduncus) from Hong Kong associated with a S. canis-like infection. Diagnosis was made based on clinical presentation, histopathology, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and molecular characterization. Microscopically, S. canis-like like infection was confined to the liver. Immature and mature schizonts were found in hepatocytes and the parasite was associated with generalized hepatic necrosis. By TEM, schizonts divided by endopolygeny, and merozoites lacked rhoptries. Molecular characterization of parasites present in liver and brain tissues at the cox1 gene showed a high degree of identity (97-98%) and clustered together with Sarcocystis canis, S. lutrae, S. arctica, S. speeri, S. turdusi, and S. rileyi in a phylogenetic study. This is the first report of S. canis-like infection from Asia.
authors.affiliation: United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory, Building 1001, Beltsville, MD 20705-2350, USA.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Calero-Bernal
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region; Hong Kong Wildlife Health Foundation, G.P.O. Box 12585, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
authors.forename: N F
authors.initials: NF
authors.lastname: Mauroo
authors.affiliation: Clinical Laboratory, Ocean Park Corporation, Aberdeen, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
authors.forename: S W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Hui
authors.affiliation: Department of Viroscience, Erasmus University Medical Centre, P.O. Box 2040, 3000 CA, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kuiken
authors.affiliation: Department of Viroscience, Erasmus University Medical Centre, P.O. Box 2040, 3000 CA, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: M W G
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: van de Bildt
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Erasmus University Medical Centre, P.O. Box 2040, 3000 CA Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: A W
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: de Jong
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Emerging Infections and Zoonoses (RIZ), University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Bünteweg 17, 30559 Hannover, Germany.
authors.forename: A D M E
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Osterhaus
authors.affiliation: Veterinary Laboratory Division, Agriculture, Fisheries & Conservation Department, San Fuk Road, Tuen Mun, New Territories, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sims
authors.affiliation: Enzyme Institute, Pathology and Laboratory Services, 1710 University Avenue, Madison, WI 53726-4098, USA.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gendron-Fitzpatrick
authors.affiliation: Parasitology Service, National Centre for Microbiology, Carlos III Health Institute, Ctra. Majadahonda-Pozuelo km 2, Majadahonda, Madrid 28220, Spain.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Carmena
authors.affiliation: United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory, Building 1001, Beltsville, MD 20705-2350, USA.
authors.forename: C K
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Cerqueira-Cézar
authors.affiliation: United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory, Building 1001, Beltsville, MD 20705-2350, USA.
authors.forename: B M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Rosenthal
authors.affiliation: United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory, Building 1001, Beltsville, MD 20705-2350, USA. Electronic address: Jitender.Dubey@ars.usda.gov.
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Dubey
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000818:Animals; D050681:Bottle-Nosed Dolphin / Q000469:parasitology*; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D006520:Hepatitis, Animal / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000469:parasitology*; D006723:Hong Kong; D008099:Liver / Q000469:parasitology / Q000473:pathology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008297:Male; D010802:Phylogeny; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide / Q000235:genetics; D012522:Sarcocystis / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D012523:Sarcocystosis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*; D052939:Schizonts; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA / Q000662:veterinary
keywords: Hepatitis; Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin; Phylogeny; Sarcocystis; Tursiops aduncus