scholarly journals Gastrointestinal Nematode Infections in Antelopes from Morocco: A Coprological Survey

2021 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-60
Author(s):  
Saidi Aissa ◽  
Mimouni Rachida ◽  
Hamadi Fatima ◽  
Oubrou Widade

Abstract This study examined the gastrointestinal parasitological status of three endangered Sub-Saharan antelope species (Addax nasomaculatus, Oryx dammah, Gazella dorcas) hosted at Souss-Massa National Park in Morocco. A total of 254 faecal samples (80 samples from the addax population, 81 from the oryx population and 93 from the dorcas population) were analysed to determine the prevalence and the intensity of the parasites in host faeces (expressed as the mean EPG: egg per gram), using microscopic methods (Flotation and McMaster) and the molecular identification of parasites using PCR and sequencing of the second internal transcribed spacer region of the rDNA (ITS-2). The prevalence results in the addax, oryx and dorcas gazelle were 43.7%, 2.4%, and 61.3%, respectively, for Nematodirus spp.; 21.2%, 12.3%, and 16.13%, respectively, for Trichuris spp.; and 36.2%, 39.5%, and 53.7%, respectively, for other, undistinguished strongylids. The means of EPG values for parasites in addax, oryx and dorcas gazelle were 8.9, 2.4, and 61.3, respectively, for Nematodirus spp.; 4.3, 2.4, and 4.8, respectively, for Trichuris spp.; and 18.1, 16.6, and 50.1, respectively, for other undistinguished strongylids. Sequencing of the ITS-2 rDNA region of the isolated parasites allowed the identification of Camelostrongylus mentulatus and Nematodirus spathiger in these three antelope species. We can conclude that the studied antelopes are infected at tolerating levels with the first record of Camelostrongylus mentulatus and Nematodirus spathiger in those antelopes in Morocco.

2020 ◽  
Vol 57 (4) ◽  
pp. 306-313
Author(s):  
A. Saidi ◽  
R. Mimouni ◽  
F. Hamadi ◽  
W. Oubrou

SummaryProtostrongylids, small nematode lungworms, are an integral part of the wild ruminant helminth community, which can damage animals’ health when they are held in captivity or semi-captive conditions. The Sahelo-Saharan antelope species dorcas gazelle (Gazella dorcas), the scimitar-horned oryx (Oryx dammah), and the addax (Addax nasomacculatus), reintroduced to Souss-Massa National Park in Morocco, could be host to many species of Protostrongylids. This study was conducted from January to July 2015 to identify infecting parasite species, and determine their prevalence and abundance in all three antelope species. A total of 180 individual fecal samples were collected, morphologically examined by the Baermann technique, and molecularly identified by PCR amplification and sequencing of the second internal transcribed spacer region of the rDNA (ITS-2).Two parasite species were found in the three antelope populations: Muellerius capillaris and Neostrongylus linearis. The prevalence scores recorded for M. capillaris were 98.40 % in the addax, 96.70 % in dorcas gazelle, and 28.40 % in the oryx. The prevalence rates of N. linearis were 60 % in the addax, 23.40 % in dorcas gazelle, and 90 % in the oryx. Excreted larvae were quantified by LPG (larvae per gram) counting: for M. capillaris, the LPG mean values were 92.94 in the addax, 133.09 in dorcas gazelle, and 1.48 in the oryx; and for N. linearis, the LPG mean values were 6.02 in the addax, 1.37 in dorcas gazelle, and 32.81 in the oryx. These findings indicate that the three species of antelopes are infected with Muellerius capillaris and Neostrongylus linearis to varying degrees in intensity and prevalence.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zewdu Seyoum ◽  
Kalkidan Getnet ◽  
Mersha Chanie ◽  
Samuel Derso ◽  
Shumye Fentahun

Gastrointestinal nematode (GIN) infections of sheep and their interaction with selected morbidity parameters were studied in smallholder farms. 120 faecal samples were collected and examined using faecal flotation to determine nematode infection in sheep. Thus, the study demonstrated overall prevalence of 57.5% GIN infections, while the mean faecal egg count (FEC) was 517.5 EPG. The severity of GIN infection was determined based on EPG as a mild infection (EPG <500), 55.1%, moderate infection (EPG = 500–1500), 30.4%, and heavy infection (EPG >1500), 14.6%. Five genera of nematodes were identified using coproculture: Haemonchus (33.3%), Trichostrongylus (26.7%), Bunostomum (20%), Oesophagostomum (13.3%), and Cooperia (6.7%). A significant difference was observed in the mean FEC among the FC (P<0.001), FAMACHA© score (P<0.01), and the BCS of the animals (P<0.001). FEC was positively correlated with the FAMACHA© score (FS), while FC and BCS were negatively correlated. Thus, FAMACHA© chart can suggest well the severity of nematode infections and can serve as a suitable on-farm tool to identify nematode-infected sheep and gives a guide to identify sheep that need to be treated with an anthelmintic.


Pathogens ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 243
Author(s):  
Julieta Rousseau ◽  
Mónia Nakamura ◽  
Helena Rio-Maior ◽  
Francisco Álvares ◽  
Rémi Choquet ◽  
...  

Sarcoptic mange is globally enzootic, and non-invasive methods with high diagnostic specificity for its surveillance in wildlife are lacking. We describe the molecular detection of Sarcoptes scabiei in non-invasively collected faecal samples, targeting the 16S rDNA gene. We applied this method to 843 Iberian wolf Canis lupus signatus faecal samples collected in north-western Portugal (2006–2018). We further integrated this with serological data (61 samples from wolf and 20 from red fox Vulpes vulpes, 1997–2019) in multi-event capture–recapture models. The mean predicted prevalence by the molecular analysis of wolf faecal samples from 2006–2018 was 7.2% (CI95 5.0–9.4%; range: 2.6–11.7%), highest in 2009. The mean predicted seroprevalence in wolves was 24.5% (CI95 18.5–30.6%; range: 13.0–55.0%), peaking in 2006–2009. Multi-event capture–recapture models estimated 100% diagnostic specificity and moderate diagnostic sensitivity (30.0%, CI95 14.0–53.0%) for the molecular method. Mange-infected individually identified wolves showed a tendency for higher mortality versus uninfected wolves (ΔMortality 0.150, CI95 −0.165–0.458). Long-term serology data highlights the endemicity of sarcoptic mange in wild canids but uncovers multi-year epidemics. This study developed and evaluated a novel method for surveying sarcoptic mange in wildlife populations by the molecular detection of S. scabiei in faecal samples, which stands out for its high specificity and non-invasive character.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 199
Author(s):  
Armin Mešić ◽  
Danny Haelewaters ◽  
Zdenko Tkalčec ◽  
Jingyu Liu ◽  
Ivana Kušan ◽  
...  

A new ectomycorrhizal species was discovered during the first survey of fungal diversity at Brijuni National Park (Croatia), which consists of 14 islands and islets. The National Park is located in the Mediterranean Biogeographical Region, a prominent climate change hot-spot. Inocybe brijunica sp. nov., from sect. Hysterices (Agaricales, Inocybaceae), is described based on morphology and multilocus phylogenetic data. The holotype collection was found at the edge between grassland and Quercus ilex forest with a few planted Pinus pinea trees, on Veli Brijun Island, the largest island of the archipelago. It is easily recognized by a conspicuous orange to orange–red–brown membranaceous surface layer located at or just above the basal part of the stipe. Other distinctive features of I. brijunica are the medium brown, radially fibrillose to rimose pileus; pale to medium brown stipe with fugacious cortina; relatively small, amygdaliform to phaseoliform, and smooth basidiospores, measuring ca. 6.5–9 × 4–5.5 µm; thick-walled, utriform, lageniform or fusiform pleurocystidia (lamprocystidia) with crystals and mostly not yellowing in alkaline solutions; cheilocystidia of two types (lamprocystidia and leptocystidia); and the presence of abundant caulocystidia only in the upper 2–3 mm of the stipe. Phylogenetic reconstruction of a concatenated dataset of the internal transcribed spacer region (ITS), the nuclear 28S rRNA gene (nrLSU), and the second largest subunit of RNA polymerase II (rpb2) resolved I. brijunica and I. glabripes as sister species.


2014 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 348-354 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maurício Orlando Wilmsen ◽  
Bruna Fernanda Silva ◽  
César Cristiano Bassetto ◽  
Alessandro Francisco Talamini do Amarante

Gastrointestinal nematode infections were evaluated in sheep raised in Botucatu, state of São Paulo, Brazil between April 2008 and March 2011. Every month, two tracer lambs grazing with a flock of sheep were exposed to natural infection with gastrointestinal nematodes for 28 consecutive days. At the end of this period, the lambs were sacrificed for worm counts. Haemonchus contortus presented 100% of prevalence. The seasons exerted no significant influence on the mean intensity of H. contortus, which ranged from 315 worms in November 2010 to 2,5205 worms in January 2011. The prevalence of Trichostrongylus colubriformis was also 100%, with the lowest mean intensity (15 worms) recorded in February 2011 and the highest (9,760 worms) in October 2009. In the case of T. colubriformis, a significant correlation coefficient was found between worm counts vs. rainfall (r = −0.32; P <0.05). Three other nematodes species were found in tracer lambs, albeit in small numbers. Their prevalence and mean intensity (in parenthesis) were as follows: Oesophagostomum columbianum 28% (25.2), Cooperia curticei 7% (4.5) and Trichuris spp. 2% (1). In conclusion, the environmental conditions of the area proved to be highly favorable for the year-round transmission of H. contortus and T. colubriformis.


2011 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. NMI.S5862 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Azabji-Kenfack ◽  
S. Edie Dikosso ◽  
E.G. Loni ◽  
E.A. Onana ◽  
E. Sobngwi ◽  
...  

Background Malnutrition is a major global public health issue and its impact on communities and individuals is more dramatic in Sub-Saharan Africa, where it is compounded by widespread poverty and generalized high prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Therefore, malnutrition should be addressed through a multisectorial approach, and malnourished individuals should have access to nutritional rehabilitation molecules that are affordable, accessible, rich in nutrient and efficient. We thus assessed the efficacy of two affordable and accessible nutritional supplements, spirulina platensis versus soya beans among malnourished HIV-infected adults. Methods Undernourished patients, naïve of, but eligible to antiretroviral treatment (ART), aged 18 to 35 years were enrolled and randomly assigned to two groups. The first group received spirulina (Group A) as food supplement and the second received soya beans (Group B). Patients were initiated ART simultaneously with supplements. Food supplements were auto-administered daily, the quantity being calculated according to weight to provide 1.5 g/kg body weight of proteins with 25% from supplements (spirulina and soya beans). Patients were monitored at baseline and followed-up during twelve weeks for anthropometric parameters, body composition, haemoglobin and serum albumin, CD4 count and viral load. Results Fifty-two patients were enrolled (Group A: 26 and Group B: 26). The mean age was 26.4 ± 4.9 years (Group A) and 28.7 ± 4.8 (Group B) with no significant difference between groups ( P = 0.10). After 12 weeks, weight and BMI significantly improved in both groups ( P < 0.001 within each group). The mean gain in weight and BMI in Group A and B were 4.8 vs. 6.5 kg, ( P = 0.68) and 1.3 vs. 1.90 Kg/m2, ( P = 0.82) respectively. In terms of body composition, fat free mass (FFM) did not significantly increase within each group (40.5 vs. 42.2 Kg, P = 0.56 for Group A; 39.2 vs. 39.0 Kg, P = 0.22 for Group B). But when compared between the two groups at the end of the trial, FFM was significantly higher in the spirulina group (42.2 vs. 39.0 Kg, P = 0.01). The haemoglobin level rose significantly within groups ( P < 0.001 for each group) with no difference between groups ( P = 0.77). Serum albumin level did not increase significantly within groups ( P < 0.90 vs. P < 0.82) with no difference between groups ( P = 0.39). The increase in CD4 cell count within groups was significant ( P < 0.01 in both groups), with a significantly higher CD4 count in the spirulina group compared to subjects on soya beans at the end of the study ( P = 0.02). Within each group, HIV viral load significantly reduced at the end of the study ( P < 0.001 and P = 0.04 for spirulina and soya beans groups respectively). Between the groups, the viral load was similar at baseline but significantly reduced in the spirulina group at the end of the study ( P = 0.02). Conclusion We therefore conclude in this preliminary study, firstly, that both spirulina and soja improve on nutritional status of malnourished HIV-infected patients but in terms of quality of nutritional improvement, subjects on spirulina were better off than subjects on soya beans. Secondly, nutritional rehabilitation improves on immune status with a consequent drop in viral load but further investigations on the antiviral effects of this alga and its clinical implications are strongly needed.


2018 ◽  
Vol 66 (7) ◽  
pp. 556 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael K. Macphail ◽  
Robert S. Hill

Fossil pollen and spores preserved in drillcore from both the upper South Alligator River (SARV) in the Kakadu National Park, Northern Territory and the North-West Shelf, Western Australia provide the first record of plants and plant communities occupying the coast and adjacent hinterland in north-west Australia during the Paleogene 66 to 23million years ago. The palynologically-dominant woody taxon is Casuarinaceae, a family now comprising four genera of evergreen scleromorphic shrubs and trees native to Australia, New Guinea, South-east Asia and Pacific Islands. Rare taxa include genera now mostly restricted to temperate rainforest in New Guinea, New Caledonia, New Zealand, South-East Asia and/or Tasmania, e.g. Dacrydium, Phyllocladus and the Nothofagus subgenera Brassospora and Fuscospora. These appear to have existed in moist gorges on the Arnhem Land Plateau, Kakadu National Park. No evidence for Laurasian rainforest elements was found. The few taxa that have modern tropical affinities occur in Eocene or older sediments in Australia, e.g. Lygodium, Anacolosa, Elaeagnus, Malpighiaceae and Strasburgeriaceae. We conclude the wind-pollinated Oligocene to possibly Early Miocene vegetation in the upper SARV was Casuarinaceae sclerophyll forest or woodland growing under seasonally dry conditions and related to modern Allocasuarina/Casuarina formations. There are, however, strong floristic links to coastal communities growing under warm to hot, and seasonally to uniformly wet climates in north-west Australia during the Paleocene-Eocene.


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 7-11
Author(s):  
A. Saidi ◽  
R. Mimouni ◽  
F. Hamadi ◽  
W. Oubrou

Monitoring of gastrointestinal nematode parasites in ruminants (domestic and wild) is often based on fecal examination techniques, looking for excreted eggs and larval forms using morphological keys. These, are more available in domestic ruminants, in which helminths are widely studied, than in wild ruminants.  This study tried to provide certain morphological elements that will help to recognize the L3 larvae of Camelostrongylus mentulatus and Nematodirus spathiger that could parasite either domestic or wild ruminants. For that, we resorted first to the culture of L3 larvae from fecal samples taken from African antelopes, and second by the microscopic characterization of each isolated larval morphological pattern previously identified by sequencing of its internal transcribed spacer (ITS-2) regions of the ribosomal DNA. The results of different microscopic captured images showed that Camelostrongylus mentulatus larva is 16 intestinal cells that measuring approximately 820 µm length, ‎≈ 25 µm wide, and ‎≈ 47 µm for its sheath tail extension and by this be closer to Teladorsagia circumcincta characteristics.  For Nematodirus spathiger, it possesses 8 gut cells and measuring about 1020 µm long, ‎≈ 25 µm wide, and‎ ≈ 143 µm for its sheath tail extension with specific tail appendages. Have done this, we were able to get some clarifications on the morphology of the studied larvae, and we believe thus that this study will contribute to the establishment of morphological identification keys especially for parasitic nematodes of wild ruminants.


2013 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-50
Author(s):  
Józef Banaszak ◽  
Ewelina Motyka ◽  
Katarzyna Szczepko

Summary The first record of Andrena florivaga Eversmann, 1852 is reported from Poland on the basis of specimens collected in the Kampinos National Park (Mazovian Lowland). Diagnosis, data on localities, biology, and general distribution of the species are provided. One female and five males were caught on a mowed fresh meadow and fallow fields with the use of water pan-traps (Moericke traps), during the 2003 - 2004 time period. The main morphological characteristics distinguishing Andrena florivaga from the very similar Andrena dorsalis Brullé, 1832 species and from the other species of the subgenus Lepidandrena are: in the case of females - the width of facial foveae and colouration of legs, and in the case of males - the length of the first flagellar segment, colouration of clypeus, and pubescence of gonostyles. Andrena florivaga can be found from France in the west, to Central Siberia (Baikal lake region) in the east, and Turkey in the south. Poland is the northernmost locality of the species.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 946-954
Author(s):  
Nguyen Van Giang ◽  
Phan Thanh Nghi ◽  
Nguyen Bich Hanh

Spotted sea bass (Lateolabrax maculatus, McClelland, 1844) is a species belonging to the genus Lateolabrax (Lateolabracidae), and is characterized by the many distinct black spots on the bodies of mature fish. For the first time, six specimens have been recorded in Quang Ninh province. The specimens were collected from Luon Cave in Bai Tu Long National Park in May-June 2019. The new specimens collected from Quang Ninh, Vietnam are different from the recorded specimens from Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and China in terms of lateral line scales (LLS) as the samples collected in Quang Ninh, Vietnam have 94-97 scales and the samples collected from the other countries have 66-82 scales. Phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rDNA sequence confirmed that all of the samples collected in Quang Ninh, Vietnam belonged to the species of spotted sea bass.


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