Abstract
A captive juvenile Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) died from an unknown disseminated parasitic infection. Deep sequencing of DNA from infected tissues, followed by gene-specific PCR and sequencing, revealed a divergent species within the newly proposed genus Versteria (Cestoda: Taeniidae). Versteria may represent a previously unrecognized risk to primate health.
Highlights
A captive juvenile Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) died from an unknown disseminated parasitic infection
Because attempts to identify the parasite by morphologic features were inconclusive, total DNA extracted from infected organs was subjected to deep sequencing to detect molecular sequences of pathogens
DNA was isolated from liver, lung, and spleen by using the QIAGEN DNeasy Blood and Tissue Kit (QIAGEN Inc., Valencia, CA, USA), followed by treatment with RNase (Epicenter Biotechnologies, Madison, WI, USA) to remove RNA
Summary
Deep sequencing of DNA from infected tissues, followed by gene-specific PCR and sequencing, revealed a divergent species within the newly proposed genus Versteria (Cestoda: Taeniidae). We describe the identification of a previously genetically uncharacterized species within the newly proposed Taeniid (Cestoda) genus Versteria (1), which caused fatal metacestode infection in a captive juvenile Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus). Gendron-Fitzpatrick, K.M. Deering, G.E. Rosen, A.J. Bennett, D.H. O’Connor); Milwaukee County Zoo, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA L. Clyde); University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA (E.C. Greiner); and Wisconsin National Primate Research Center, Madison (T.L. Goldberg, D.H. O’Connor). The new cox[1] and nad[1] sequences
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