Serological monitoring of antibodies for an early diagnosis of aspergillosis in captive penguins

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of detection of anti-Aspergillus fumigatus antibodies in captive penguins by double radial agar gel immunodiffusion (AGID) for the aspergillosis diagnosis. We included 134 Magellanic penguins (Spheniscus magellanicus) in rehabilitation at the Center for Recovery of Marine Animals (CRAM / FURG). All of them were monitored by AGID weekly until its final destination (death or release), totalizing 660 serum samples studied. All animals were clinically accompanied and post-mortem examinations was performed in penguins that died during the studied period. A total of 28% (37/134) of the penguins died, 89.2% (33/37) due to aspergillosis, 11% (4/37) by other causes and 97 were released. From the 33 animals with proven aspergillosis, 21 presented anti- A. fumigatus antibodies by AGID, being the average interval between death and positive AGID 16.4 days. Twelve animals with negative serology died of aspergillosis. The sensitivity and specificity rates were 63.6% and 95% respectively, and the positive and negative predictive values were 80.7% and 88.9% respectively. These data demonstrate that the serological monitoring for detection of antibodies by AGID can be an important tool for the diagnosis of aspergillosis in penguins.