Bacteraemia in free-ranging Hawaiian green turtles Chelonia mydas with fibropapillomatosis

Diseases of Aquatic Organisms

George H. Balazs¹  Thierry M. Work¹  Mark Wolcott¹  Robert Morris¹ 

关键词: Bacteria;    Bacteraemia;    Chelonia mydas;    Green turtle;    Haematology;    Vibrio;   

DOI  :  10.3354/dao053041

学科分类：生物科学（综合）

来源: Inter-Research

【 摘 要 】

ABSTRACT: Past studies of free-ranging green turtles Chelonia mydas with fibropapillomatosis (FP) in Hawaii have shown that animals become immunosuppressed with increasing severity of this disease. Additionally, preliminary clinicalexamination of moribund turtles with FP revealed that some animals were also bacteraemic. We tested the hypothesis that bacteraemia in sea turtles is associated with the severity of FP. We captured free-ranging green turtles from areas in Hawaii where FPis absent, and areas where FP has been endemic since the late 1950s. Each turtle was given an FP severity score ranging from 0 (no tumours) to 3 (severely affected). A fifth category included turtles that were stranded ashore and moribund with FP. Wefound that the percentage of turtles with bacteraemia increased with the severity of FP, and that the majority of bacteria cultured were Vibrio spp. Turtles with severe FP were more susceptible to bactaeremia, probably in part due toimmunosuppression. The pattern of bacteraemia in relation to severity of disease strengthens the hypothesis that immunosuppression is a sequel to FP.

【 授权许可】

Unknown