RESEARCH ARTICLE Pathology and molecular epidemiology of Mycobacterium pinnipedii tuberculosis in native New Zealand marine mammals 1 1¤a 1¤b 1 Wendi D. RoeID *, Baukje Lenting , Anna Kokosinska , Stuart Hunter , Padraig J. Duignan2, Brett Gartrell1, Lynn Rogers1, Desmond M. Collins3, Geoffrey W. de Lisle3, Kristene Gedye1, Marian Price-Carter3 1 School of Veterinary Science, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand, 2 The Marine Mammal a1111111111 Centre, Sausalito, California, United States of America, 3 AgResearch, Palmerston North, New Zealand a1111111111 a1111111111 ¤a Current address: Wellington Zoo, Wellington, New Zealand a1111111111 ¤b Current address: College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, United States of America a1111111111 *
[email protected] Abstract OPEN ACCESS Mycobacterium pinnipedii causes tuberculosis in a number of pinniped species, and trans- Citation: Roe WD, Lenting B, Kokosinska A, Hunter mission to cattle and humans has been reported. The aims of this study were to: character- S, Duignan PJ, Gartrell B, et al. (2019) Pathology and molecular epidemiology of Mycobacterium ize the pathology and prevalence of tuberculosis in New Zealand marine mammals; use pinnipedii tuberculosis in native New Zealand molecular diagnostic methods to confirm and type the causal agent; and to explore relation- marine mammals. PLoS ONE 14(2): e0212363. ships between type and host characteristics. Tuberculosis was diagnosed in 30 pinnipeds https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0212363 and one cetacean. Most affected pinnipeds had involvement of the pulmonary system, sup- Editor: Stephen Raverty, Animal Health Centre, porting inhalation as the most common route of infection, although ingestion was a possible CANADA route in the cetacean.