Parasite fauna of wild Antillean manatees (Trichechus manatus manatus) of the Andean Region, Colombia.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Antillean manatees (Trichechus manatus manatus) are large herbivorous aquatic mammals living in limited areas of South, Central and North America. As with other aquatic mammals, Antillean manatees can be infected by a variety of protozoan and metazoan parasites, some of them with zoonotic potential, which affect not only their welfare but also population health status. Therefore, we conducted the first epidemiological survey in Colombian free-ranging Antillean manatees to estimate their actual gastrointestinal parasite status.

Results

In total, 69 faecal samples were collected from free-ranging individual manatees during ecology field studies in the rivers Carare and San Juan and in two associated wetlands in the Andean region of Colombia. Parasite diversity encom

SUBMITTER: Velez J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6486965 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature