Molecular identification of Mesocestoides sp. metacestodes in a captive gold-handed tamarin (Saguinus midas).

Mesocestoides spp. are tapeworms harbored in the intestine of many domestic and wild carnivores, birds of prey and, rarely, of humans. The life cycle is assumed to involve three hosts and the metacestode juvenile stage (tetrathyridium) may reproduce asexually, provoking severe systemic infections. In the present study, a case of a peritoneal infection by Mesocestoides sp. occurred in a captive gold-handed tamarin (Saguinus midas) is described. Phylogenetic positions based on CO1 and 12S loci were analysed to describe in details this unusual finding of Mesocestoides in a callitrichid monkey. The phylogenetic analyses has not clearly resolve relationships between the metacestode forms from the tamarin and any of the described Mesocestoides species available so far, including those described from non-human primates, thus supporting the hypothesis of a new taxon within the genus.

Detection of Papillomavirus DNA in Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma and Multiple Papillomas in Captive Reptiles.

Papillomaviruses (PVs) are small, non-enveloped DNA viruses that cause mucocutaneous tumours including squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) in man. In animals, evidence supports a causal role for PVs in the development of cutaneous and oral SCC in some species. In reptiles, three cases of papilloma or fibropapilloma have been associated with PV infection, but no association has been reported to date with SCC. Two cases of cutaneous epithelial tumours, multiple papillomas in a spiny-tailed lizard (Uromastyx acanthinura) and SCC in a Dumeril's boa (Acrantophis dumerili), were investigated by polymerase chain reaction. PV DNA was amplified from samples of both lesions. Typical microscopical features suggestive of PV infection (e.g. the presence of koilocytes) were observed in the lesions from the spiny-tailed lizard. This is the first report of an association between PV and SCC in reptiles. Further studies are needed to better clarify the role of PVs in these species and to characterize the PV strains involved.

Prion search and cellular prion protein expression in stranded dolphins.

The recent description of a prion disease (PD) case in a free-ranging bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) prompted us to carry out an extensive search for the disease-associated isoform (PrPSc) of the cellular prion protein (PrPC) in the brain and in a range of lymphoid tissues from 23 striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba), 5 bottlenose dolphins and 2 Risso s dolphins (Grampus griseus) found stranded between 2007 and 2012 along the Italian coastline. Three striped dolphins and one bottlenose dolphin showed microscopic lesions of encephalitis, with no evidence of spongiform brain lesions being detected in any of the 30 free-ranging cetaceans investigated herein. Nevertheless, we could still observe a prominent PrPC immunoreactivity in the brain as well as in lymphoid tissues from these dolphins. Although immunohistochemical and Western blot investigations yielded negative results for PrPSc deposition in all tissues from the dolphins under study, the reported occurrence of a spontaneous PD case in a wild dolphin is an intriguing issue and a matter of concern for both prion biology and intra/inter-species transmissibility, as well as for cetacean conservation medicine.