Department of Veterinary and Capture Services, Kenya Wildlife Service, Nairobi, Kenya.
Parasit Vectors. 2012 Sep 19;5:206. doi: 10.1186/1756-3305-5-206.
Habitat and food supply loss and disruption, together with man's pursuit of the animal's unique horn pose significant threats to the charismatic rhinoceros. Filarial worms have been thought to cause cutaneous lesions in black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis) in Kenya and South Africa, but never in white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum) in the wild, despite the fact that the two species live often in close proximity. Stephanofilaria dinniki has been implicated in the past as the causal agents for such lesions.
In this paper we report a putative filariosis outbreak in both black and white rhinos at Meru National Park in Kenya. Four black and five white rhinos were affected by various degrees of filarioid-like lesions, while apparently all sympatric wild and domestic animals were filarial worm-free. Affected rhinos were captured and successfully treated. Comparison between the epidemiological aspects of white and black rhinoceros filariosis, and the possible relations between this outbreak and annual seasons, the presence of oxpeckers and other host species are discussed.
Our study highlights (i) that filarial infection is not restricted to black rhinos, but it affects both rhinoceros species, and (ii) the importance of the earlier detection and immediate treatment (capture-treat and release) of filarioid infections, which is of pivotal interest for wildlife conservation, and especially the endangered and isolated white and black rhinoceros populations.
栖息地和食物供应的丧失和中断，加上人类对动物独特角的追求，对有魅力的犀牛构成了重大威胁。人们一直认为丝状虫会导致肯尼亚和南非的黑犀牛（Diceros bicornis）出现皮肤损伤，但在野外的白犀牛（Ceratotherium simum）中从未出现过这种情况，尽管这两个物种经常生活在一起。过去，Stephanofilaria dinniki 被认为是导致这种病变的原因。
在本文中，我们报告了肯尼亚 Meru 国家公园的黑犀牛和白犀牛中可能发生的丝状虫病爆发。四头黑犀牛和五头白犀牛受到不同程度的丝状虫样病变的影响，而显然所有同域的野生动物和家畜都没有丝虫。受影响的犀牛被捕获并成功治疗。讨论了白犀牛和黑犀牛丝状虫病的流行病学方面的差异，以及这次爆发与年度季节、牛椋鸟的存在和其他宿主物种之间的可能关系。
我们的研究强调了（i）丝状虫感染不仅限于黑犀牛，而且还影响到两种犀牛物种，以及（ii）早期发现和立即治疗（捕获-治疗和释放）丝状虫感染的重要性，这对于野生动物保护，特别是濒危和孤立的白犀牛和黑犀牛种群具有至关重要的意义。
