Despite being a parasitic disease known since ancient times, some epidemiological aspects of cystic echinococcosis (CE) remain unclear. Many studies describe its prevalence and genotyping in populations of domestic animals and livestock, but data regarding wildlife are often scarce and incomplete. The available literature suggests that CE has never been reported in African rhinos. Considering the fragile conservation status of these species due to continued poaching, this study tries to clarify some neglected epidemiological aspects. In February 2020, an adult female of the Southern white rhinoceros,
Ceratotherium simum simum
(Burchell, 1817), was killed by poachers. The subsequent necropsy performed by the state veterinary team revealed the presence of seven cysts within the pulmonary tissue (four cysts in the right medio-caudal lobe and three cysts in the left medio-caudal lobe) with a diameter of between 1.5 and 2.3 cm. Given the state of decomposition of the carcass, only two of these were suitable for microscopic examination. Specimens were examined under 10x and 40x microscopic magnification for the confirmation of fertility of the cysts, based on the presence of numerous protoscoleces in different stages of maturation. A histopathological examination was also performed to describe the relationship between parasite and host tissue reaction. Cyst samples were subjected to PCR. The primers successfully amplified the expected fragments of the cox-1 and the nad-1 gene from the isolated genomic DNA, revealing high sequence identity with published sequences of
Echinococcus equinus
Williams & Sweatman, 1963 isolate G4 and
E. equinus
isolate SLG5-G4.
A survey on wild ruminants' health status of any South African preserves was attempted, assessing body condition score (BCS) through tele-diagnosis. The wildlife BCS was linked to the presence of gastrointestinal parasites that should be recognized, counted and statistically evaluated. For this purpose, we examined 103 faecal samples of wild ruminants from 6 South African preserves. For practical reasons, the animals were divided into two macro-categories: small and large ruminants. The results obtained showed a prevalence of 78.1 and 15.6% in large ruminants for gastrointestinal strongyles (GIS) and coccidian, respectively, while small ruminants showed 92.3% due to GIS and 30.8% for coccidia. No statistically significant difference in the prevalence among the preserves was detected; on the other hand, a low value of BCS corresponds to a greater presence of parasites with statistics difference in the macro-categories (small ruminant x 2 =5.238; P=0.020; large ruminant x 2 = 15.215; P<0.001) and sex classes (male x 2 =5.409; P=0.020; female x 2 =17.350; P<0.001). For these reasons, our results provide a practical feedback for the management preserves. The present paper is fully part of the limited experiences of telediagnosis in a conservation perspective. Based on the results obtained, we decided to organize a project that could limit and assess the risk factors in the management of these activities in the South African context.
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