Línea base del estado de salud y detección de Leptospira patógena por PCR en lobos marinos de Galápagos (Zalophus wollebaeki) de la Isla San Cristóbal.

摘要

The Galápagos sea lion (Zalophus wollebaeki), a species endemic to theGalapagos Islands, is listed as endangered in the IUCN (International Union for theConservation of Nature) red list. The strong El-Niño events in 1982/83 and1997/98reduced the population by approximately 50 % to currently an estimated 16,000 to18,000 individuals. Data from 2008 to 2010 reveal that the human actions (29%),abortions (20%) and malnutrition in pups and juveniles (10%) were the maincauses of illness, injuries or dead in the population of sea lions of San CristóbalIsland. The human impacts on sea lions increasing three fold since 2007 withhuman derivates activities as fisheries and direct impacts. Additionally warm oceanconditions may lead to outbreaks of microbial diseases. Leptospirosis is a zoonoticdisease of worldwide significance caused by spirochetes of the genus Leptospira,which are transmitted via urine. Leptospira interrogans serotype Pomona has beendetected as the cause of abortions and numerous deaths in Californian sea lions(Zalophus californianus). In October 2009, 15 premature pups were aborted in twocolonies at Puerto Baquerizo Moreno. From July to September 2010 thosecolonies were monitored for the presence of Leptospira sp. Samples were takenfrom fresh urine in sand or from tissue of liver, kidney and lung of sea lions founddead and from placenta of newborns. A total of 18 urine samples and 7 tissuesamples were analyzed using PCR with specific primer pairs to determine thepresence or absence of Leptospira. All of the urine samples were negative, but 4out of the 7 tissue samples resulted positive for Leptospira. Though none of thesamples was identified as L. interrogans.