First description of Blastocystis sp. and Entamoeba sp. infecting zoo animals in the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau area, China

Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology

Cellular and Infection Microbiology

Wangli Zheng¹  Ming Kang¹  Liangting Guo¹  Tongsheng Qi¹  Jixu Li²  Yali Sun² 

[1] College of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, Qinghai University, Xining, China;State Key Laboratory of Plateau Ecology and Agriculture, Qinghai University, Xining, China;College of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, Qinghai University, Xining, China;State Key Laboratory of Plateau Ecology and Agriculture, Qinghai University, Xining, China;Qinghai Provincial Key Laboratory of Pathogen Diagnosis for Animal Diseases and Green Technical Research for Prevention and Control, Qinghai University, Xining, China;

关键词: zoo animals;    Blastocystis;    Entamoeba;    wildlife park;    Qinghai-Tibetan plateau area;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fcimb.2023.1212617

 received in 2023-04-26, accepted in 2023-05-30,  发布年份 2023

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Protozoan parasites are a well-known threat to human health, particularly for people working at or visiting zoos, and potentially cause zoonotic diseases in humans. Captive wildlife may be potential reservoirs for human infection with protozoan parasites. Therefore, focusing on zoonotic protozoan infections in zoo animals is critical. However, there is no report on this topic in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau region. In this study, a total of 167 and 103 fecal samples were collected from 12 animal species from Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Wildlife Park in winter and summer, respectively, to detection the prevalence of infections and subtype distribution with Entamoeba sp., Cryptosporidium sp., Giardia duodenalis, Enteromicrosporidia bieneusi sp., Blastocystis sp. by PCR assay. The results showed that a total of 21 fecal samples collected in winter, including from 2 white-lipped deer, 8 Sika deer, 6 blue sheep, 2 wolves and 3 bears, were positive for Entamoeba, with a 12.6% (21/167) positive rate. However, 4.9% (5/103) of animals in summer were positive for Entamoeba, including 1 snow leopard, 1 tiger, 1 Tibetan argali and 2 mouflon. Moreover, 1 white-lipped deer and 1 bear were found to be positive for Blastocystis sp., one zoonotic STs (ST10) was identified and found in white-lipped deer. We found no effect on season on Blastocystis sp. and Entamoeba sp. colonization. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first description of Blastocystis sp. and Entamoeba sp. infecting zoo animals in the plateau area. The findings provide the latest data on Entamoeba sp. and Blastocystis sp. in zoo animals in China.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
Copyright © 2023 Qi, Zheng, Guo, Sun, Li and Kang