Journal of Wildlife Diseases Vol. 15, No.

3, July1979 419

PATHOGENICITY ATTRIBUTED TO MASSIVE INFECTION OF

Nanophyetus salmincola IN A COUGAR W

T. P. KISTNER, BDELORES WYSE Band J. A. SCHMITZ B

Abstract: An estimated 650,000 Nanophyetus salmincola were recovered from the

small intestine of a wild female cougar kitten (Felis concolor). The trematodes
stimulated marked mucosal thickening in the duodenum and jejunum and caused a
marked enteritis. Malnutrition was listed as the cause of death due to impaired
nutrient absorption resulting from the combined effects of the diarrhea and
thickening of the intestine.

INTRODUCTION Hatchery in Lane County, Oregon. She

Nanophyetus salmincola is a ubi- subsequently entered a chicken house in
quitous intestinal trematode which in- the vicinity, was live-trapped by the
fects a wide range of piscivorous avian owner and then transferred to Corvallis,
and mammalian hosts in a limited Oregon, where she was placed in a pen
geographic area. The life cycle and and fed daily until death, five days later.
geographical distribution of N. salmin- The carcass was examined at this
cola have been described in detail.2 laboratory.
Following discovery of the The hair coat was rough and matted
relationship between N. salmincola and and the carcass emaciated. There was a
salmon poisoning disease of dogs, brownish discharge from the nostrils,
primary emphasis has been directed and the perineum was stained with fluid
toward determining the pathogenicity of fecal material. All four canine teeth were
the disease agents Neorickettsia broken.
helminthoeca and N. elokominia. The lungs were mildly emphysem-
Pathogenicity studies on the adult atous, with all lobes affected. The heart
trematode in the definitive host are lack- was flaccid. Catarrhal gastritis and
ing, but cercariae are reported to be colitis were present and the stomach con-
pathogenic in salmonid fishes.’ The pur- tained bile. The small intestine was
pose of this paper is to report the first thickened and turgid. Splenic lymphoid
documented case of N. salmincola
follicles were prominent.
infection in the cougar (Felis concolor)
and the first case of pathogenicity Representative somatic tissues were
resulting from massive infection of adult collected, fixed in 10% buffered formalin,
N. salmincola. processed routinely and stained with
hematoxylin and eosin (H&E). The in-
testine was ligated at the pylorus and
CASE HISTORY rectum, removed from the carcass and
The female cougar kitten was observed injected with buffered 10% formalin. Sub-
for a few weeks feeding on dead salmon sequently, a series of sections were made
in the vicinity of Fall Creek Fish of the small intestine and colon and

Oregon Agricultural Experiment Station Technical Paper No. 4817.

B Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon 97331, USA.

0) School of Veterinary Medicine, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon 97331, USA.
420 Journal of Wildlife Diseases Vol. 15. No. 3, July, 1979

stained with either H&E or Masson’s infection in the cougar and the first case
trichrorne. of pathogenicity attributed to adult
Histopathologic examination of the trematodes of this species. Lesions of
lungs revealed emphysema, interstitial - salmon poisoning” were not present,
pneumonia and congestion. The splenic which is not surprising since only canids
lymphoid follicles were hyperplastic and and the black bear apparently are
the parenchyma was unusually dense. susceptible to the rickettsiae.
The mucosa of the small intestine was The kitten, probably an orphan, was
markedly thickened due to fibrous forced to fend for herself and, starving,
proliferation of the lamina propria with she fed on dying salmon. Salmon usually
numerous N. saim incola distributed are heavily infected with metacercariae
superficially and midzonally (Fig. 1A). of N. sal,nincola. The metacercariae
I’rematodes were situated in intervillus would have reached maturity in the
spaces or dilated crypts of Lieberkuhn cougar’s gut in 5 to 7 days.2 An estimated
with flattened epithelial linings (Fig. 650,000 adult trematodes were recovered.
1 H). Small foci of necrosis were present in The actual count probably was higher
the lamina propria adjacent to since an undetermined quantity of in-
trematodes and some crypts contained testinal contents was lost during necrop-
small amounts of necrotic debris. The sy. The massive infection of trematodes
superficial lamina propria contained a caused thickening of the intestinal wall
mild mixed leukocytic infiltrate. which probably interfered with nutrient
This is believed to he the first absorption and caused diarrhea, with
documented case of N. salmincola death resulting from malnutrition.

FIGURE 1. Photomicrographs of cougar intestine. A. Section through small in-

testine showing marked thickening of the lamina propria and several trematodes in
situ (lOX). B. Enlargement of a sectioned trematode (160X).

LITERATURE CITED
1. BUTLER, J.A. and R.E. MILLEMANN. 1971. Effect of the “Salmon Poisoning”
trematode, Nanophyetus salmincola, on the swimming ability of juvenile
salmonid fishes. J. Parasit. 57: 860-865.
2. MILLEMANN, R.E. and S.E. KNAPP. 1970. Biology of Nanophyetussalmincola
and “Salmon Poisoning” disease. Adv. Parasit. 8: 1-39.

Received for publication 19 April 1978