Donahoe Shannon L, Peacock Christopher S, Choo Ace Y L, Cook Roger W, O'Donoghue Peter, Crameri Sandra, Vogelnest Larry, Gordon Anita N, Scott Jenni L, Rose Karrie
Taronga Conservation Society Australia, Mosman, New South Wales 2088, Australia ; Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia.
School of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Western Australia, Nedlands, Western Australia 6009, Australia ; Telethon Kids Institute, Subiaco, Western Australia 6008, Australia.
Int J Parasitol Parasites Wildl. 2015 Feb 28;4(2):268-76. doi: 10.1016/j.ijppaw.2015.02.002. eCollection 2015 Aug.
This is a retrospective study of 38 cases of infection by Babesia macropus, associated with a syndrome of anaemia and debility in hand-reared or free-ranging juvenile eastern grey kangaroos (Macropus giganteus) from coastal New South Wales and south-eastern Queensland between 1995 and 2013. Infection with B. macropus is recorded for the first time in agile wallabies (Macropus agilis) from far north Queensland. Animals in which B. macropus infection was considered to be the primary cause of morbidity had marked anaemia, lethargy and neurological signs, and often died. In these cases, parasitised erythrocytes were few or undetectable in peripheral blood samples but were sequestered in large numbers within small vessels of visceral organs, particularly in the kidney and brain, associated with distinctive clusters of extraerythrocytic organisms. Initial identification of this piroplasm in peripheral blood smears and in tissue impression smears and histological sections was confirmed using transmission electron microscopy and molecular analysis. Samples of kidney, brain or blood were tested using PCR and DNA sequencing of the 18S ribosomal RNA and heat shock protein 70 gene using primers specific for piroplasms. The piroplasm detected in these samples had 100% sequence identity in the 18S rRNA region with the recently described Babesia macropus in two eastern grey kangaroos from New South Wales and Queensland, and a high degree of similarity to an unnamed Babesia sp. recently detected in three woylies (Bettongia penicillata ogilbyi) in Western Australia.
这是一项回顾性研究，研究对象为1995年至2013年间新南威尔士州沿海地区和昆士兰州东南部人工饲养或自由放养的幼年东部灰袋鼠（大赤袋鼠）感染巨袋巴贝斯虫的38个病例，这些病例伴有贫血和虚弱综合征。首次记录到昆士兰州远北地区的敏捷袋鼠（沙大袋鼠）感染了巨袋巴贝斯虫。被认为巨袋巴贝斯虫感染是发病主要原因的动物出现明显贫血、嗜睡和神经症状，且常死亡。在这些病例中，外周血样本中寄生红细胞很少或检测不到，但在内脏器官的小血管中大量隐匿，尤其是在肾脏和大脑中，并伴有独特的红细胞外生物体簇。利用透射电子显微镜和分子分析，对外周血涂片、组织印片和组织切片中的这种梨形虫进行初步鉴定得到了证实。使用针对梨形虫的引物，通过聚合酶链反应（PCR）以及对18S核糖体RNA和热休克蛋白70基因进行DNA测序，对肾脏、大脑或血液样本进行检测。在这些样本中检测到的梨形虫在18S rRNA区域与最近在新南威尔士州和昆士兰州的两只东部灰袋鼠中描述的巨袋巴贝斯虫具有100%的序列同一性，并且与最近在西澳大利亚州的三只毛尾袋鼬（彭氏毛尾袋鼬）中检测到的一种未命名的巴贝斯虫属物种高度相似。
