Cestodes of the family Anoplocephalidae parasitize a wide range of usually herbivorous hosts including e.g. rodents, ungulates, primates, elephants and hyraxes. While in some hosts, the epidemiology of the infection is well studied, information is lacking in others. In this study of mountain gorillas in the Virunga Massif, an extensive sample set comprising adult cestodes collected via necropsies, proglottids shed in feces, and finally, fecal samples from both night nests and identified individuals were analysed. Anoplocephala gorillae was the dominant cestode species detected in night nest samples and individually known gorillas, of which only 1 individual hosted a Bertiella sp. It was shown that the 2 species can be distinguished through microscopy based on egg morphology and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays for diagnostics of both species were provided. Sequences of mitochondrial (cox 1) and nuclear (ITS1, 18S rDNA, 28S rDNA) markers were used to evaluate the phylogenetic position of the 2 cestodes detected in mountain gorillas. Both types of fecal samples, from night nests and from identified individuals, provided comparable information about the prevalence of anoplocephalid cestodes, although the analysis of samples collected from identified gorilla individuals showed significant intra-individual fluctuation of A. gorillae egg shedding within a short period. Therefore, multiple samples should be examined to obtain reliable data for wildlife health management programmes, especially when application of anthelmintic treatment is considered. However, while A. gorillae is apparently a common symbiont of mountain gorillas, it does not seem to impair the health of its host.

• Klíčová slova
• Anoplocephala, Anoplocephalidae, Bertiella, Gorilla beringei, Rwanda, mountain gorilla, parasite ecology, parasite epidemiology,
• MeSH
• Cestoda * genetika   MeSH
• fylogeneze MeSH
• Gorilla gorilla * MeSH
• ribozomální DNA MeSH
• veřejné parky MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Geografické názvy
• Rwanda epidemiologie   MeSH
• Názvy látek
• ribozomální DNA MeSH

Human disturbance is an ongoing threat to many wildlife species, manifesting as habitat destruction, resource overuse, or increased disease exposure, among others. With increasing human: non-human primate (NHP) encounters, NHPs are increasingly susceptible to human-introduced diseases, including those with parasitic origins. As such, epidemiology of parasitic disease is becoming an important consideration for NHP conservation strategies. To investigate the relationship between parasite infections and human disturbance we studied yellow baboons (Papio cynocephalus) living outside of national park boundaries in western Tanzania, collecting 135 fresh faecal samples from nine troops occupying areas with varying levels of human disturbance. We fixed all samples in 10% formalin and later evaluated parasite prevalence and abundance (of isotrichid ciliates and Strongylida). We identified seven protozoan and four helminth taxa. Taxa showed varied relationships with human disturbance, baboon troop size and host age. In four taxa, we found a positive association between prevalence and troop size. We also report a trend towards higher parasite prevalence of two taxa in less disturbed areas. To the contrary, high levels of human disturbance predicted increased abundance of isotrichid ciliates, although no relationship was found between disturbance and Strongylida abundance. Our results provide mixed evidence that human disturbance is associated with NHP parasite infections, highlighting the need to consider monitoring parasite infections when developing NHP conservation strategies.

• MeSH
• cizopasní červi fyziologie   MeSH
• ekosystém MeSH
• feces parazitologie   MeSH
• gastrointestinální nemoci epidemiologie   parazitologie   MeSH
• helmintózy zvířat epidemiologie   parazitologie   MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• lidské činnosti statistika a číselné údaje   MeSH
• nemoci opic epidemiologie   parazitologie   MeSH
• Papio cynocephalus parazitologie   MeSH
• parazitární nemoci střev epidemiologie   veterinární   MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Geografické názvy
• Tanzanie MeSH

The mammalian gastrointestinal tract harbours a highly complex ecosystem composed of a variety of micro- (bacteria, fungi, viruses, protozoans) and macro-organisms (helminths). Although most microbiota research focuses on the variation of single gut components, the crosstalk between components is still poorly characterized, especially in hosts living under natural conditions. We investigated the gut micro-biodiversity (bacteria, fungi and helminths) of 158 individuals of two wild non-human primates, the Udzungwa red colobus (Procolobus gordonorum) and the yellow baboon (Papio cynocephalus). These species have contrasting diets and lifestyles, but live sympatrically in both human-impacted and pristine forests in the Udzungwa Mountains of Tanzania. Using non-invasive faecal pellets, helminths were identified using standard microscopy while bacteria and fungi were characterized by sequencing the V1-V3 variable region of the 16S rRNA gene for bacteria and the ITS1-ITS2 fragment for fungi. Our results show that both diversity and composition of bacteria and fungi are associated with variation in helminth presence. Although interactions differed by habitat type, in both primates we found that Strongyloides was negatively associated and Trichuris was positively associated with bacterial and fungal richness. To our knowledge, this is one of the few studies demonstrating an interaction between helminth and gut microbiota communities in wild non-human primates.

• MeSH
• biodiverzita MeSH
• cizopasní červi fyziologie   MeSH
• Colobinae MeSH
• druhová specificita MeSH
• ekosystém * MeSH
• feces MeSH
• gastrointestinální trakt parazitologie   MeSH
• intergenová DNA MeSH
• lesy MeSH
• ohrožené druhy MeSH
• RNA ribozomální 16S metabolismus   MeSH
• střevní mikroflóra * MeSH
• zachování přírodních zdrojů MeSH
• zeměpis MeSH
• životní prostředí MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• mužské pohlaví MeSH
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• Názvy látek
• intergenová DNA MeSH
• RNA ribozomální 16S MeSH