Overview and details of the sessions of this conference. Please select a date or location to show only sessions at that day or location. Please select a single session for detailed view (with abstracts and downloads if available).
Session Chair: Stephanie Godfrey, University of Otago Session Chair: Robert Poulin, University of Otago
Location:Plenary Lecture Theatre 1, Uni of Auckland Engineering Complex Bldg, LT 405-470
Lecture Theatre 405-470
Presentations
Sarcocystis spp. in invasive animals; the first identification in feral deer and pigs in Australia
Keira Brown, Shokoofeh Shamsi, Diane Barton, David Jenkins
Charles Sturt University, Australia
In Australia invasive species such as deer and pigs are now wide reaching. With six introduced species of deer and one of feral pigs now thriving it is important to understand the parasites that they have brought over with them into the Australian ecosystem. As sarcocystis along with many of its like in the Sarcocystidae family are potentially zoonotic, the impact of these parasites could be far greater than anticipated. Through PCR and histopathological analysis of organ tissue the first instance of Sarcocystis in feral deer and pigs in Australia was found in 2023. Species identification of S. miesheriana was achieved for pig samples, however, deer samples were not identifiable to a species level. All positive PCR samples were also found to have microscopic sarcocysts during histopathological analysis. Further research is now being conducted to identify species of Sarcocystis in deer and other invasive species in Australia as well as the impact they have on native wildlife.
Molecular detection and characterisation of Toxoplasma gondii in introduced eastern barred bandicoots (Perameles gunnii) in Victoria, Australia
Tharaka D. Liyanage K. L. D.1, Oluwadamilola S. Omotainse1, Michael Lynch2, Chunlei Su3, Abdul Jabbar1, Jasmin Hufschmid1
1Department of Veterinary Biosciences, Melbourne Veterinary School, Faculty of Science, The University of Melbourne, Werribee 3030, Victoria, Australia; 2Zoos Victoria, Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia; 3Department of Microbiology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, USA
Australian marsupials are particularly susceptible to Toxoplasma gondii, an introduced zoonotic protozoan parasite. The eastern barred bandicoot (Perameles gunnii) is a small native marsupial species classified as Critically Endangered. Although the species has previously been described as highly susceptible to infection with T. gondii, there is currently no information on the genotypes occurring in this species. This study employed qPCR for the detection of T. gondii in opportunistically obtained tissue samples from eastern barred bandicoot carcasses (n = 113) from Victoria, followed by determination of genotype using a DNA sequence-based virtual restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) method. Overall, 19.5% of the samples were positive for T. gondii using qPCR. The RFLP analysis revealed the dominance of T. gondii type II while the type II-like genotype was found in two isolates. This is the first study to demonstrate the presence of T. gondii in eastern barred bandicoot tissues using molecular methods and to provide information on prevalent genotypes. Epidemiological studies of definitive and intermediate hosts, including further genotyping, are recommended to better understand T. gondii epidemiology for the successful recovery of eastern barred bandicoots in Australia.
Occurrence and description of blood parasites in Gehyra dubia and Hemidactylus frenatus.
Rachel Bracken, Di Barton, Shokoofeh Shamsi
School of Agricultural, Environmental and Veterinary Sciences, Gulbali Institute, Charles Sturt University, Locked Bag 588, Wagga Wagga, NSW 2678, Australia.
Introduced species play a significant role in the distribution of novel parasites and subsequent diseases. Hemidactylus frenatus is known to be the most invasive and widely dispersed lizard in the world, proven to be an aggressive displacive competitor, with the potential to transmit novel parasites and amplify endemic parasites. There is little published research of the parasites of reptiles in Australia, and especially blood protozoa, to date there are no published papers on blood parasites of Gehyra dubia.This research aims to determine the occurrence of blood parasites in two gecko species found within Australia native species Gehyra dubia and introduced species Hemidactylus frenatus. This will be done by examining 259 Gehyra dubia and 102 Hemidactylus frenatus blood smears collected in 1998 from northern Queensland. This knowledge can be useful to understand whether native geckos are susceptible and/or impacted by the parasites carried by the introduced species of gecko and in the process create a baseline dataset for future research into native geckos to examine the parasitic implications of Hemidactylus frenatus on Gehyra dubia.
