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Apparent absence of Cryptosporidium, Giardia and Toxoplasma gondii in three species of penguins along the Antarctic Peninsula

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 February 2010

Maria José Palacios ,
Andrés Barbosa ,
Susana Pedraza-Díaz ,
Luis Miguel Ortega-Mora ,
Francisco Valera ,
José Javier Cuervo ,
Jesús Benzal  and
Carlos De La Cruz
Maria José Palacios
Affiliation:
Departamento de Ecología Funcional y Evolutiva, Estación Experimental de Zonas Áridas, CSIC, Carretera de Sacramento s/n, 04120 La Cañada de San Urbano, Almería, Spain
Andrés Barbosa*
Affiliation:
Departamento de Ecología Funcional y Evolutiva, Estación Experimental de Zonas Áridas, CSIC, Carretera de Sacramento s/n, 04120 La Cañada de San Urbano, Almería, Spain Departamento de Ecología Evolutiva, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, CSIC, C/José Gutierrez Abascal, 2, 28006 Madrid, Spain
Susana Pedraza-Díaz
Affiliation:
Grupo SALUVET, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad Complutense, 28040 Madrid, Spain
Luis Miguel Ortega-Mora
Affiliation:
Grupo SALUVET, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad Complutense, 28040 Madrid, Spain
Francisco Valera
Affiliation:
Departamento de Ecología Funcional y Evolutiva, Estación Experimental de Zonas Áridas, CSIC, Carretera de Sacramento s/n, 04120 La Cañada de San Urbano, Almería, Spain
José Javier Cuervo
Affiliation:
Departamento de Ecología Funcional y Evolutiva, Estación Experimental de Zonas Áridas, CSIC, Carretera de Sacramento s/n, 04120 La Cañada de San Urbano, Almería, Spain
Jesús Benzal
Affiliation:
Departamento de Ecología Funcional y Evolutiva, Estación Experimental de Zonas Áridas, CSIC, Carretera de Sacramento s/n, 04120 La Cañada de San Urbano, Almería, Spain
Carlos De La Cruz
Affiliation:
Departamento de Biología Animal, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Extremadura, Avenida de Elvas s/n, 06071 Badajoz, Spain
*
*Corresponding author: barbosa@mncn.csic.es
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Abstract

We carried out a study to investigate the presence of some protozoan parasites (Cryptosporidium sp., Giardia sp., Toxoplasma gondii) on three species of Antarctic penguins: Adélie (Pygoscelis adeliae), gentoo (Pygoscelis papua) and chinstrap (Pygoscelis antarctica) from different locations along the Antarctic Peninsula and the South Shetland Islands. Swabs and faeces samples were analysed by PCR assay for Cryptosporidium sp. and Giardia sp. while Toxoplasma was studied using serological methods from blood samples. We did not detect the presence of these organisms in the species studied. However, based on the upper values of the confidence intervals of the observed prevalence, their presence cannot be completely excluded.

Keywords

diseasesparasitesProtozoaPygoscelis adeliaePygoscelis antarcticaPygoscelis papua
Type
Biological Sciences
Information
Antarctic Science , Volume 22 , Issue 3 , June 2010 , pp. 265 - 270
Copyright
Copyright © Antarctic Science Ltd 2010

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