BACKGROUND: Infectious diseases represent the greatest threats to endangered species, and transmission from humans to wildlife under increased anthropogenic pressure has been always stated as a major risk of habituation. AIMS: To evaluate the impact of close contact with humans on the occurrence of potentially zoonotic protists in great apes, one hundred mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei) from seven groups habituated either for tourism or for research in Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda were screened for the presence of microsporidia, Cryptosporidium spp. and Giardia spp. using molecular diagnostics. RESULTS: The most frequently detected parasites were Enterocytozoon bieneusi found in 18 samples (including genotype EbpA, D, C, gorilla 2 and five novel genotypes gorilla 4-8) and Encephalitozoon cuniculi with genotype II being more prevalent (10 cases) compared to genotype I (1 case). Cryptosporidium muris (2 cases) and C. meleagridis (2 cases) were documented in great apes for the first time. Cryptosporidium sp. infections were identified only in research groups and occurrence of E. cuniculi in research groups was significantly higher in comparison to tourist groups. No difference in prevalence of E. bieneusi was observed between research and tourist groups. CONCLUSION: Although our data showed the presence and diversity of important opportunistic protists in Volcanoes gorillas, the source and the routes of the circulation remain unknown. Repeated individual sampling, broad sampling of other hosts sharing the habitat with gorillas and quantification of studied protists would be necessary to acquire more complex data.
- MeSH
- Cryptosporidium klasifikace genetika izolace a purifikace MeSH
- Encephalitozoon klasifikace genetika izolace a purifikace MeSH
- encephalitozoonóza epidemiologie mikrobiologie MeSH
- fylogeneze MeSH
- Giardia klasifikace genetika izolace a purifikace MeSH
- giardiáza epidemiologie parazitologie MeSH
- Hominidae MeSH
- intergenová DNA genetika MeSH
- kryptosporidióza epidemiologie parazitologie MeSH
- molekulární sekvence - údaje MeSH
- nemoci lidoopů epidemiologie mikrobiologie parazitologie MeSH
- veřejné parky MeSH
- zoonózy epidemiologie mikrobiologie parazitologie MeSH
- zvířata MeSH
- Check Tag
- zvířata MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- práce podpořená grantem MeSH
- Geografické názvy
- Rwanda MeSH
Piglets from 4 to 8 weeks of age originated from a Cryptosporidium-free research breed were orally inoculated with 1 × 10(6) infectious oocysts of Cryptosporidium scrofarum. The number of shed oocysts per gram of faeces served to describe the infection intensity and prepatent period. In addition, faecal samples collected daily and tissue samples of the small and large intestine collected at 30 days post-inoculation were examined for the C. scrofarum small subunit ribosomal RNA gene using PCR. The piglets inoculated at 4-weeks of age remained uninfected, whereas 5-week-old and older animals were fully susceptible with a prepatent period ranging from 4 to 8 days. Susceptible pigs shed oocysts intermittently, and shedding intensity, reaching a mean maximum of 6000 oocysts per gram, did not differ significantly among infected animals. This study demonstrates that pigs become susceptible to C. scrofarum infection as late as 5-weeks of age. The mechanisms of age related susceptibility remain unknown.
- MeSH
- Cryptosporidium genetika MeSH
- feces parazitologie MeSH
- geny rRNA genetika MeSH
- kryptosporidióza imunologie patologie veterinární MeSH
- nemoci prasat imunologie patologie MeSH
- počet parazitárních vajíček MeSH
- prasata MeSH
- věkové faktory MeSH
- zvířata MeSH
- Check Tag
- zvířata MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- práce podpořená grantem MeSH
The morphological, biological, and molecular characteristics of Cryptosporidium hedgehog genotype are described, and the species name Cryptosporidium erinacei n. sp. is proposed to reflect its specificity for hedgehogs under natural and experimental conditions. Oocysts of C. erinacei are morphologically indistinguishable from Cryptosporidium parvum, measuring 4.5-5.8 μm (mean=4.9 μm) × 4.0-4.8 μm (mean=4.4 μm) with a length to width ratio of 1.13 (1.02-1.35) (n=100). Oocysts of C. erinacei obtained from a naturally infected European hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) were infectious for naïve 8-week-old four-toed hedgehogs (Atelerix albiventris); the prepatent period was 4-5 days post infection (DPI) and the patent period was longer than 20 days. C. erinacei was not infectious for 8-week-old SCID and BALB/c mice (Mus musculus), Mongolian gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus), or golden hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus). Phylogenetic analyses based on small subunit rRNA, 60 kDa glycoprotein, actin, Cryptosporidium oocyst wall protein, thrombospondin-related adhesive protein of Cryptosporidium-1, and heat shock protein 70 gene sequences revealed that C. erinacei is genetically distinct from previously described Cryptosporidium species.
- MeSH
- aktiny genetika MeSH
- Cryptosporidium klasifikace cytologie genetika MeSH
- druhová specificita MeSH
- fylogeneze * MeSH
- geny rRNA genetika MeSH
- Gerbillinae MeSH
- glykoproteiny genetika MeSH
- ježkovití parazitologie MeSH
- křečci praví MeSH
- kryptosporidióza parazitologie přenos MeSH
- molekulární sekvence - údaje MeSH
- myši inbrední BALB C MeSH
- myši SCID MeSH
- myši MeSH
- oocysty cytologie MeSH
- proteiny tepelného šoku HSP70 genetika MeSH
- protozoální proteiny genetika MeSH
- zvířata MeSH
- Check Tag
- křečci praví MeSH
- myši MeSH
- zvířata MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- práce podpořená grantem MeSH
We describe the morphological, biological, and molecular characteristics of Cryptosporidium pig genotype II and propose the species name Cryptosporidium scrofarum n. sp. to reflect its prevalence in adult pigs worldwide. Oocysts of C. scrofarum are morphologically indistinguishable from C. parvum, measuring 4.81-5.96 μm (mean=5.16)×4.23-5.29 μm (mean=4.83) with a length to width ratio of 1.07±0.06 (n=400). Oocysts of C. scrofarum obtained from a naturally infected pig were infectious for 8-week-old pigs but not 4-week-old pigs. The prepatent period in 8-week-old Cryptosporidium-naive pigs was 4-6 days and the patent period was longer than 30 days. The infection intensity of C. scrofarum in pigs was generally low, in the range 250-4000 oocysts per gram of feces. Infected pigs showed no clinical signs of cryptosporidiosis and no pathology was detected. Cryptosporidium scrofarum was not infectious for adult SCID mice, adult BALB/c mice, Mongolian gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus), southern multimammate mice (Mastomys coucha), yellow-necked mice (Apodemus flavicollis), or guinea pigs (Cavia porcellus). Phylogenetic analyses based on small subunit rRNA, actin, and heat shock protein 70 gene sequences revealed that C. scrofarum is genetically distinct from all known Cryptosporidium species.
- MeSH
- Cryptosporidium klasifikace cytologie genetika MeSH
- druhová specificita MeSH
- feces parazitologie MeSH
- fylogeneze * MeSH
- genotyp MeSH
- Gerbillinae MeSH
- kryptosporidióza patologie veterinární MeSH
- morčata MeSH
- myši inbrední BALB C MeSH
- myši SCID MeSH
- myši MeSH
- nemoci prasat parazitologie patologie MeSH
- prasata MeSH
- protozoální geny genetika MeSH
- zvířata MeSH
- Check Tag
- morčata MeSH
- myši MeSH
- zvířata MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- práce podpořená grantem MeSH
- Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural MeSH
