Parafilaroides decorus, also known as sea lion lungworm, is a metastrongyloid nematode that infects otariid hosts, such as the charismatic California sea lion, Zalophus californianus. P. decorus causes bronchointerstitial pneumonia, respiratory distress, reduced ability to swim, dive and hunt and as a result, increased mortality particularly in young animals. Respiratory disease is a leading cause of stranding and admission to rehabilitation centers on the Pacific coast. Low-coverage genomic sequencing of four P. decorus individuals analyzed through Galaxy's RepeatExplorer identified a novel repeat DNA family we employed to design a sensitive quantitative PCR (qPCR) assay for diagnosing infections from fecal or sputum samples. The assay detects as little as 10 fg of P. decorus DNA and a linear regression model developed using a standard curve can be used to estimate the concentration of P. decorus DNA in a sample, ± 0.015 ng. This knowledge can be leveraged to estimate the level of parasite burden, which can be used to design improved treatments for animals in rehabilitation. Improved treatment of infections will aid in more animals being successfully released back into the wild.

Parafilaroides decorus，也被称为海狮肺虫，是一种感染类hosts虫宿主的超长线虫线虫，如魅力十足的加利福尼亚海狮californianus。腐烂假单胞菌引起支气管间质性肺炎，呼吸窘迫，游泳，潜水和狩猎的能力降低，结果导致死亡率增加，特别是在幼小动物中。呼吸系统疾病是滞留和进入太平洋海岸康复中心的主要原因。四低覆盖率基因测序P.蝗个人分析，通过银河RepeatExplorer确定我们用来设计一个敏感的定量PCR（qPCR）检测用于诊断从粪便或痰标本感染一种新型的重复DNA家族。该检测方法可检测出10 fgP.decorus DNA和使用标准曲线开发的线性回归模型可用于估计样品中P.decorus DNA的浓度，±0.015 ng。可以利用这些知识来估计寄生虫负担的水平，这可以用于设计康复动物的改良治疗方法。改善对感染的治疗将有助于更多的动物成功地释放回野外。