{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,11,4]],"date-time":"2026-11-04T02:46:21Z","timestamp":1793760381637,"version":"4.6.1"},"reference-count":26,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,13]],"date-time":"2026-01-13T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1768262400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Vet. Sci."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Aspergillosis is a major fungal disease in penguins. However, seasonal variation of\n                      <jats:italic>Aspergillus<\/jats:italic>\n                      spp. in burrow sands and its association with meteorological factors remain poorly characterized, particularly under Japan\u2019s climatic conditions.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Objectives<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      This study aimed to examine seasonal changes in\n                      <jats:italic>Aspergillus<\/jats:italic>\n                      spp. abundance in Humboldt penguin burrows and test whether temperature and other environmental factors correlated with fungal positivity.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      From June 2023 to October 2024, 158 sand samples were collected from burrows and surrounding areas at an outdoor Humboldt penguin (\n                      <jats:italic>Spheniscus humboldti<\/jats:italic>\n                      ) facility in Shimonoseki, Japan. Fungal colonies were cultured and identified morphologically and by sequencing.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      <jats:italic>Aspergillus<\/jats:italic>\n                      spp. positivity peaked from July to October in both years. Average temperature showed strong positive correlation with fungal positivity (\n                      <jats:italic>r<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f=\u202f0.781,\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      &amp;lt;\u202f0.01), while other meteorological factors exhibited weaker associations. Multiple\n                      <jats:italic>Aspergillus<\/jats:italic>\n                      spp. were identified, including known pathogenic\n                      <jats:italic>Aspergillus<\/jats:italic>\n                      sections\n                      <jats:italic>Fumigati<\/jats:italic>\n                      ,\n                      <jats:italic>Nigri<\/jats:italic>\n                      ,\n                      <jats:italic>Flavi<\/jats:italic>\n                      , and\n                      <jats:italic>Terrei<\/jats:italic>\n                      .\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Temperature demonstrated the strongest correlation with\n                      <jats:italic>Aspergillus<\/jats:italic>\n                      spp. positivity, suggesting seasonal monitoring is critical for managing aspergillosis risk in captive penguins. These findings provide a basis for future multi-site studies to improve fungal disease prevention strategies.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fvets.2025.1708049","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,13]],"date-time":"2026-01-13T13:14:58Z","timestamp":1768310098000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Seasonal variation in Aspergillus abundance in captive penguin burrow sands and its implication for aspergillosis risk in Japan"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"12","author":[{"given":"Shiori","family":"Takanobu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Veterinary Medicine, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine","place":["Obihiro, Hokkaido, Japan"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yuri","family":"Araki","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Shimonoseki Marine Science Museum, Shimonoseki","place":["Yamaguchi, Japan"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Rie","family":"Nitta","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Shimonoseki Marine Science Museum, Shimonoseki","place":["Yamaguchi, Japan"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hideaki","family":"Shindo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Shimonoseki Marine Science Museum, Shimonoseki","place":["Yamaguchi, Japan"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Naoya","family":"Matsumoto","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Azabu University","place":["Sagamihara, Kanagawa, Japan"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Megumi","family":"Itoh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Veterinary Medicine, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine","place":["Obihiro, Hokkaido, Japan"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kazutaka","family":"Yamada","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Azabu University","place":["Sagamihara, Kanagawa, Japan"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Takahito","family":"Toyotome","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Veterinary Medicine, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine","place":["Obihiro, Hokkaido, Japan"]},{"name":"Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy at Narita, International University of Health and Welfare","place":["Narita, Chiba, Japan"]},{"name":"Medical Mycology Research Center, Chiba University","place":["Chiba, Japan"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,13]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"241","DOI":"10.3390\/jof7030241","article-title":"Aspergillosis in wild 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