Hepatitis Associated with a Sarcocystis canis–like Protozoan in a Hawaiian Monk Seal (Monachus schauinslandi)

Authors

D. Yantis, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology
R. Moeller, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology
R. Braun, Kaneohe Bay Drive
C. H. Gardiner, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology
A. Aguirre, University of Hawaii
J. P. Dubey, Beltsville Agricultural Research CenterFollow

Date of this Version

2003

Comments

Published in THE JOURNAL OF PARASITOLOGY, VOL. 89, NO. 6, DECEMBER 2003.

Abstract

A Hawaiian monk seal (Monachus schauinslandi) died in captivity at the National Marine Fisheries Service, Kewalo Basin Facility in Honolulu, Hawaii. The animal was icteric, and the liver was friable. Microscopic lesions were detected in the colon and liver. Colonic lesions included multifocal, necrohemorrhagic colitis associated with gram-negative bacilli. The liver lesions included random hepatic necrosis and cholestasis. Asexual stages of a Sarcocystis canis–like apicomplexan were detected in hepatocytes. The parasite divided by endopolygeny. Merozoites occasionally formed rosettes around a central residual body. Ultrastructurally, merozoites lacked rhoptries. This is the first report of S. canis infection in M. schauinslandi, which is an endangered pinniped in U.S. waters.