MOLECULAR TYPING OF Giardia duodenalis ISOLATES FROM NONHUMAN PRIMATES HOUSED IN A BRAZILIAN ZOO

Abstract

Giardia infections in captive nonhuman primates (NHP) housed at a Brazilian zoo were investigated in order to address their zoonotic potential. Fresh fecal samples were collected from the floors of 22 enclosures where 47 primates of 18 different species were housed. The diagnosis of intestinal parasites after concentration by sedimentation and flotation methods revealed the following parasites and their frequencies: Giardia (18%); Entamoeba spp. (18%); Endolimax nana (4.5%); Iodamoeba spp. (4.5%); Oxyurid (4.5%) and Strongylid (4.5%). Genomic DNA extracted from all samples was processed by PCR methods in order to amplify fragments of gdh and tpi genes of Giardia. Amplicons were obtained from samples of Ateles belzebuth, Alouatta caraya, Alouatta fusca and Alouatta seniculus. Clear sequences were only obtained for the isolates from Ateles belzebuth (BA1), Alouatta fusca (BA2) and Alouatta caraya (BA3). According to the phenetic analyses of these sequences, all were classified as assemblage A. For the tpi gene, all three isolates were grouped into sub-assemblage AII (BA1, BA2 and BA3) whereas for the gdh gene, only BA3 was sub-assemblage AII, and the BA1 and BA2 were sub-assemblage AI. Considering the zoonotic potential of the assemblage A, and that the animals of the present study show no clinical signs of infection, the data obtained here stresses that regular coproparasitological surveys are necessary to implement preventive measures and safeguard the health of the captive animals, of their caretakers and of people visiting the zoological gardens.

Epidemiology of Giardia duodenalis assemblages in Brazil: there is still a long way to go

“…Even considering the scarce knowledge of G. duodenalis in infecting wild animals, assemblages with high anthropozoonotic potential (A and B) were already identified in these animals (non-human primates, ostriches, chinchillas, jaguar, toucan). 31 , 32 , 33 , 85 All animals surveyed had some proximity to humans, which could justify the circulation of these assemblages.…”

“…A (28,83) Cat A (28) São Paulo Human A (42,67,69,71,73,78) B (42,67,71,73,78) C (42) Dog A (42,69,71) B (42) C (42,47,67,71) D (42,47,67,71) Cat A (42,67) B (42) D (42) F (67) Buffalo E (60) Cattle A (40,42,67) E (40,42,67) Sheep E (50) Nonhuman primates A (85) Oyster A (58) Water and/or Sewage A (44,45,57,58,59,61) B (57,59,42,44) C…”

Giardiasis as a neglected disease in Brazil: Systematic review of 20 years of publications

“…In non-human primates, several studies have reported a prevalence between 0.5% and 44.4% [ 69 – 72 ]. The genetic assemblage A was detected in primates kept in a zoo, which highlights that, considering the zoonotic potential of the assemblage detected, regular coproparasitological surveys are necessary to safeguard the captive animals, their caretakers and people visiting zoos [ 69 ]. The genotype AI was also detected in captive Alouatta clamitans in the south of the country, indicating that these animals might be susceptible to infection with G .…”

Multilocus Genotyping of Giardia duodenalis in Mostly Asymptomatic Indigenous People from the Tapirapé Tribe, Brazilian Amazon

“…MrBayes v3.1.2 was used to perform Bayesian analyses with four independent Markov chain runs for 1,000,000 metropolis-coupled MCMC generations, sampling a tree every 100th generation [ 64 ]. References [ 65 , 66 , 67 , 68 , 69 , 70 , 71 , 72 , 73 , 74 , 75 , 76 , 77 , 78 , 79 , 80 , 81 , 82 , 83 , 84 , 85 , 86 , 87 , 88 , 89 , 90 , 91 , 92 , 93 , 94 , 95 , 96 , 97 , 98 , 99 , 100 , 101 , 102 , 103 , 104 , 105 , 106 , 107 , 108 , 109 ] are cited in the supplementary materials . The first 25% of trees represented burn-in and the remaining trees were used to calculate Bayesian posterior probability.…”