Trypanosome co-infections increase in a declining marsupial population.

ABSTRACT: Understanding the impacts of parasites on wildlife is growing in importance as diseases pose a threat to wildlife populations. Woylie (syn. brush-tailed bettong, Bettongia penicillata) populations have undergone enigmatic declines in south-western Western Australia over the past decade. Trypanosomes have been suggested as a possible factor contributing towards these declines because of their high prevalence in the declining population. We asked whether temporal patterns of infection with Trypanosoma spp. were associated with the decline patterns of the host, or if other factors (host sex, body condition, co-infection or rainfall) were more influential in predicting infection patterns. Species-specific nested PCRs were used to detect the two most common trypanosomes (T. copemani and T. vegr

SUBMITTER: Godfrey SS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6010928 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature