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Update on the prevalence of the hookworm, Uncinaria lucasi, in northern fur seals (Callorhinus ursinus) on St. Paul Island, Alaska, 2011

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Abstract

Prevalence of hookworms (Uncinaria lucasi Stiles, 1901) was determined in the northern fur seal (Callorhinus ursinus Linnaeus, 1758) on St. Paul Island (SPI), Alaska in July and August, 2011. Three of 61 (4.9%) dead pups harbored 1 to 13 adult hookworms each in their intestines. Parasitic larvae (L3) of hookworms were recovered from the blubber of 4 of 133 (3%) of subadult males (SAMs) examined. One parasitic L3 was detected from each infected SAM. Adult U. lucasi (n = 3) were found in the intestine of 1 of 105 SAMs examined (0.95%). This is the first documented finding of adult U. lucasi in SAMs of the northern fur seals. Continued low prevalence of hookworms the last several years parallels the tremendous decline in the number of fur seals on SPI over a similar time period.

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Acknowledgments

This investigation (Paper No. 11-14-071 is published with the approval of the director of the University of Kentucky Agricultural Experiment Station. The research was done under the authority of the Marine Mammal Protection Act Permit Number 14327 issued to the National Marine Mammal Laboratory. Molecular studies performed by Stephen Nadler at UC Davis are appreciated. Appreciation is also expressed to the Albert and Lorraine Clay Fellowship for partial financial support for one of the authors, Tetiana Kuzmina, to come as a visiting scientist from the Ukraine to the University of Kentucky to study parasites. Thanks to Drs. Tom Gelatt and John Bengston, NMML, NOAA, Seattle, WA for allowing the authors to collect dead fur seals for parasite examination on SPI.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Veterinary Science, Gluck Equine Research Center, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, 40546-0099, USA

    Eugene T. Lyons & Sharon C. Tolliver

  2. Institute of Zoology, NAS of Ukraine, vul. B. Khmelnyts’kogo, 15, Kyiv, 01601, Ukraine

    Tetiana A. Kuzmina

  3. Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 80523-1601, USA

    Terry R. Spraker

Authors
  1. Eugene T. Lyons
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  2. Tetiana A. Kuzmina
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  3. Sharon C. Tolliver
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  4. Terry R. Spraker
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Correspondence to Eugene T. Lyons.

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Lyons, E.T., Kuzmina, T.A., Tolliver, S.C. et al. Update on the prevalence of the hookworm, Uncinaria lucasi, in northern fur seals (Callorhinus ursinus) on St. Paul Island, Alaska, 2011. Parasitol Res 111, 1397–1400 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-012-2881-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-012-2881-2

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