Patricia Khan; Victoria L. Clyde, DVM; Roberta S. Wallace, DVM; Milwaukee County Zoo, Milwaukee, WI Tony L. Goldberg, DVM, PhD, Department of

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1 Patricia Khan; Victoria L. Clyde, DVM; Roberta S. Wallace, DVM; Milwaukee County Zoo, Milwaukee, WI Tony L. Goldberg, DVM, PhD, Department of Pathobiological Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI

2 Mahal lead a pretty extraordinary life. He was born at CMZ in 2007 and came to MCZ in 2008 after numerous attempts to reunite him with his mother failed. Mahal instantly became an iconic figure at MCZ. He was not only adopted by 27 year old surrogate MJ but also by the local community. Mahal was featured in many newpaper articles, he had a children s book written about him, he had his own facebook page, and he was the ambassador for conservation to many children and teachers in class rooms around the area. He was the superstar of the zoo. Extraordinary Life

3 Initial Symptoms Punky Small cough Lethargic On the afternoon of December 12 th of 2012 keepers noticed that Mahal was acting Punky. He wasn't his normal bouncy self. He wasn t eating as well and had a small cough. Keepers attempted to dose him with ibuprofen but he refused. The next day Mahal seemed more lethargic. Keepers tried both oral and injectable antibiotics. He refused all attempts. MJ refused to shift away from him and in fact she kept trying to hold him against the mesh so that we could inject him. We were afraid that he was going to get injured so we planned to hand inject MJ in the morning and then take Mahal to the animal hospital for a complete medical work up. Mahal died that evening, less than 48 hrs after the initial onset of symptoms, leaving the animal staff and community in shock.

4 Postmortem Initial Exam Profuse hemorrhage in the lungs All major organs were affected Systemic infection Fecal and viral testsnegative. Only common bacteria found in lungs

5 Histopathology Fig. 1. Microscopic image of liver section from a Bornean orangutan fatally infected with Versteria. These findings were originally described in Goldberg et al,2014 Large numbers of unidentified parasitic cystic structures found in multiple organs, frequently in the blood vessels. The shape and structure of the cysts were unusual making definitive diagnosis impossible by microscopy

6 What Now?? Dr. Tony Goldberg- UW School of Veterinary Medicine, Professor of Pathobiological Sciences and Associate Director for Research in the UW Global Health Institute. Utilized deep sequencing and subtractive mapping of DNA DNA identified the organism as a tapeworm. More than 1500 species of tapeworm

7 Newly Proposed Genus GenBank- World Genetic Database of banked DNA The cysts were the larval form of a tapeworm in the genus Versteria. Versteria DNA newly added to GenBank Novel species or a genetically unknown variant of V. mustelae Goldberg T, Gendron-Fitzpatrick A, Deering K, Wallace R, Clyde V, Lauck M, et al. 2014

8 So, What is Versteria? Short Tailed Weasel (Mustela ermiea) Typical Tapeworm Life Cycle with Definitive and Intermediate Hosts The definitive host for Versteria are small carnivores and weasels of the family Mustelidae found in Africa and the US.

9 So Where Did He Get it? Mahal was an aberant intermediate host Tapeworm cysts can remain dormant for years Mahal could of become infected at any point in his life Is Versteria inherently virulent? Rapid progression to death could indicate an underlying condition

10 Could We Have Helped Him? On hindsight, there was nothing that could have been done to prevent it by anyone at the zoo or anywhere else, and by the time the infection made Mahal sick it had already gotten out of control. Tony Goldberg Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

11 Important Questions Who carries it? What are the definitive host species and life cycle of this parasite? Are primates and other animals on zoo grounds at risk? Are humans at risk? How can we prevent future infection?

12 Current Action at MCZ Field investigation study Identify wild animals living on zoo grounds Test scat for parasites Hope to identify Versteria and learn its life cycle Stepped up rodent control and removed wild bird feeder stations Burned the ground in the outdoor orangutan yard Lee L, Clyde V, Gendron-Fitzpatrick A, Wallace R, Goldberg T., 2014.

13 Mahal s life was extraordinary and involved the cooperation and dedication of so many people and organizations. To those who knew him it is no surprise that he continued to foster human cooperation even in death. Solving this mystery would not of been possible without a massive collaboration between institutions and individuals, spanning the past two years. We are forever grateful to so many for their assistance, but esp. to Dr. Goldberg and his team for their diligence and commitment to solving this mystery.

14 References Goldberg T, Gendron-Fitzpatrick A, Deering K, Wallace R, Clyde V, Lauck M, Rosen G, Bennett A, Greiner E, O Connor D, Fatal Metacestode infection in Bornean orangutan caused by unknown Versteria species. Journal of Emerging Infectious Diseases, 20, No.1, Lee L, Clyde V, Gendron-Fitzpatrick A, Wallace R, Goldberg T. (2014,July). Field investigation of a novel parasite of the genus Versteria (Taeniidae) at the Milwaukee County Zoo. Poster presented at Merial-NIH Veterinary Scholars Symposium, Madison, WI. Uebelherr J May 20. Star zoo attraction Mahal died of tapeworm infection. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Interactive. < attraction-mahal-died-of-tapeworm-infection-b z html> Divett T Feb. 7, Famed Milwaukee County Zoo orangutan s death caused by strange infection. University of Wisconsin-Madison News. Online interactive. <

15 Many thanks to Scott Engel for the use of his photos Engelimage.com