Hookworm disease in South American fur seals
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Hookworm disease, caused by the parasite Uncinaria sp, is the most significant cause of death on fur seal neonates at Guafo Island and also in many fur seal and sea lion rookeries worldwide.
This parasite lives in the small intestine of the pups where sucks blood, causing anemia and predisposing to secondary bacterial infections due to the damage of the intestinal mucosa. By studying hookworm and other parasitic diseases we can better understand how environmental factors interacts with fur seal populations and, affecting diseases dynamics, information that is critical for conservation of these species. Also this research might help to understand host adaptations to parasitism and co-evolutive processes that are important to know the role of parasites in ecosystems and why the effects of diseases on populations and individual animals change across geographical and time scales. |
A histological micrograph show a hookworm (arrow) biting the intestinal mucosa of a South American fur seal pup.
