Fatal Infection in Three Penguins.

is a well-known cause of fatal pneumonia in some birds, particularly Old World psittacines. Here we describe fatal sarcosystosis due to in 3 penguins (Family Spheniscidae) under managed care, including one African penguin (), and two Southern rockhopper penguins (). Randomly distributed foci of necrosis, inflammatory cell infiltrates, edema, and variable numbers of round to elongated protozoal schizonts were observed in sections of lung. Protozoal organisms exhibited strong immunoreactivity for sp. antigen by immunohistochemistry. Apicomplexan and genus-specific PCR assays and sequence analysis confirmed as the etiologic agent. These cases of fatal pneumonia attributed to expand the list of aberrant intermediate avian hosts, with particular implications for penguins.