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Systemic Helicobacter infection and associated mortalities in endangered Grand Cayman blue iguanas (Cyclura lewisi) and introduced green iguanas (Iguana iguana)

The Blue Iguana Recovery Programme maintains a captive breeding and head-starting program for endangered Grand Cayman blue iguanas (Cyclura lewisi) on Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands. In May 2015, program staff encountered two lethargic wild Grand Cayman blue iguanas within the Queen Elizabeth II Botan...

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Autores principales: Conley, Kenneth J., Seimon, Tracie A., Popescu, Ioana S., Wellehan, James F. X., Fox, James G., Shen, Zeli, Haakonsson, Jane, Seimon, Anton, Brown, Ania Tomaszewicz, King, Veronica, Burton, Fred, Calle, Paul P.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7894872/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33606766
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0247010
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author Conley, Kenneth J.
Seimon, Tracie A.
Popescu, Ioana S.
Wellehan, James F. X.
Fox, James G.
Shen, Zeli
Haakonsson, Jane
Seimon, Anton
Brown, Ania Tomaszewicz
King, Veronica
Burton, Fred
Calle, Paul P.
author_facet Conley, Kenneth J.
Seimon, Tracie A.
Popescu, Ioana S.
Wellehan, James F. X.
Fox, James G.
Shen, Zeli
Haakonsson, Jane
Seimon, Anton
Brown, Ania Tomaszewicz
King, Veronica
Burton, Fred
Calle, Paul P.
author_sort Conley, Kenneth J.
collection PubMed
description The Blue Iguana Recovery Programme maintains a captive breeding and head-starting program for endangered Grand Cayman blue iguanas (Cyclura lewisi) on Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands. In May 2015, program staff encountered two lethargic wild Grand Cayman blue iguanas within the Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park (QEIIBP). Spiral-shaped bacteria were identified on peripheral blood smears from both animals, which molecular diagnostics identified as a novel Helicobacter species (provisionary name Helicobacter sp. GCBI1). Between March 2015 and February 2017, 11 Grand Cayman blue iguanas were identified with the infection. Two of these were found dead and nine were treated; five of the nine treated animals survived the initial infection. Phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA gene suggests Helicobacter sp. GCBI1 is most closely related to Helicobacter spp. in chelonians. We developed a Taqman qPCR assay specific for Helicobacter sp. GCBI1 to screen tissue and/or blood samples from clinical cases, fecal and cloacal samples from clinically healthy Grand Cayman blue iguanas, including previously infected and recovered iguanas, and iguanas housed adjacent to clinical cases. Fecal and/or cloacal swab samples were all negative, suggesting that Grand Cayman blue iguanas do not asymptomatically carry this organism nor shed this pathogen per cloaca post infection. Retrospective analysis of a 2014 mortality event affecting green iguanas (Iguana iguana) from a separate Grand Cayman location identified Helicobacter sp. GCBI1 in two of three cases. The source of infection and mode of transmission are yet to be confirmed. Analysis of rainfall data reveal that all infections occurred during a multi-year dry period, and most occurred shortly after the first rains at the end of seasonal drought. Additionally, further screening has identified Helicobacter sp. GCBI1 from choanal swabs of clinically normal green iguanas in the QEIIBP, suggesting they could be asymptomatic carriers and a potential source of the pathogen.
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spelling pubmed-78948722021-03-01 Systemic Helicobacter infection and associated mortalities in endangered Grand Cayman blue iguanas (Cyclura lewisi) and introduced green iguanas (Iguana iguana) Conley, Kenneth J. Seimon, Tracie A. Popescu, Ioana S. Wellehan, James F. X. Fox, James G. Shen, Zeli Haakonsson, Jane Seimon, Anton Brown, Ania Tomaszewicz King, Veronica Burton, Fred Calle, Paul P. PLoS One Research Article The Blue Iguana Recovery Programme maintains a captive breeding and head-starting program for endangered Grand Cayman blue iguanas (Cyclura lewisi) on Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands. In May 2015, program staff encountered two lethargic wild Grand Cayman blue iguanas within the Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park (QEIIBP). Spiral-shaped bacteria were identified on peripheral blood smears from both animals, which molecular diagnostics identified as a novel Helicobacter species (provisionary name Helicobacter sp. GCBI1). Between March 2015 and February 2017, 11 Grand Cayman blue iguanas were identified with the infection. Two of these were found dead and nine were treated; five of the nine treated animals survived the initial infection. Phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA gene suggests Helicobacter sp. GCBI1 is most closely related to Helicobacter spp. in chelonians. We developed a Taqman qPCR assay specific for Helicobacter sp. GCBI1 to screen tissue and/or blood samples from clinical cases, fecal and cloacal samples from clinically healthy Grand Cayman blue iguanas, including previously infected and recovered iguanas, and iguanas housed adjacent to clinical cases. Fecal and/or cloacal swab samples were all negative, suggesting that Grand Cayman blue iguanas do not asymptomatically carry this organism nor shed this pathogen per cloaca post infection. Retrospective analysis of a 2014 mortality event affecting green iguanas (Iguana iguana) from a separate Grand Cayman location identified Helicobacter sp. GCBI1 in two of three cases. The source of infection and mode of transmission are yet to be confirmed. Analysis of rainfall data reveal that all infections occurred during a multi-year dry period, and most occurred shortly after the first rains at the end of seasonal drought. Additionally, further screening has identified Helicobacter sp. GCBI1 from choanal swabs of clinically normal green iguanas in the QEIIBP, suggesting they could be asymptomatic carriers and a potential source of the pathogen. Public Library of Science 2021-02-19 /pmc/articles/PMC7894872/ /pubmed/33606766 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0247010 Text en © 2021 Conley et al http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Conley, Kenneth J.
Seimon, Tracie A.
Popescu, Ioana S.
Wellehan, James F. X.
Fox, James G.
Shen, Zeli
Haakonsson, Jane
Seimon, Anton
Brown, Ania Tomaszewicz
King, Veronica
Burton, Fred
Calle, Paul P.
Systemic Helicobacter infection and associated mortalities in endangered Grand Cayman blue iguanas (Cyclura lewisi) and introduced green iguanas (Iguana iguana)
title Systemic Helicobacter infection and associated mortalities in endangered Grand Cayman blue iguanas (Cyclura lewisi) and introduced green iguanas (Iguana iguana)
title_full Systemic Helicobacter infection and associated mortalities in endangered Grand Cayman blue iguanas (Cyclura lewisi) and introduced green iguanas (Iguana iguana)
title_fullStr Systemic Helicobacter infection and associated mortalities in endangered Grand Cayman blue iguanas (Cyclura lewisi) and introduced green iguanas (Iguana iguana)
title_full_unstemmed Systemic Helicobacter infection and associated mortalities in endangered Grand Cayman blue iguanas (Cyclura lewisi) and introduced green iguanas (Iguana iguana)
title_short Systemic Helicobacter infection and associated mortalities in endangered Grand Cayman blue iguanas (Cyclura lewisi) and introduced green iguanas (Iguana iguana)
title_sort systemic helicobacter infection and associated mortalities in endangered grand cayman blue iguanas (cyclura lewisi) and introduced green iguanas (iguana iguana)
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7894872/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33606766
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0247010
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