title: High prevalence of Entamoeba infections in captive long-tailed macaques in China.
abstract: Long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) are bred in China for export and for use in experiments. Entamoeba infections in captive long-tailed macaques were surveyed in one of the biggest colonies located in Guangxi Province, China. One stool sample was obtained from each of the 152 different cages representing >3,000 macaques in the colony. The samples were examined by PCR for five Entamoeba species. The number of detected Entamoeba coli infections comprised 94% of the samples, 93% for Entamoeba chattoni, and 83% for Entamoeba dispar. In contrast, Entamoeba histolytica and Entamoeba nuttalli were not detected. Six isolates of E. dispar were obtained by culture in Tanabe-Chiba medium. Analysis of serine-rich protein genes in these isolates showed two genotypes, one of which is identical to that of the E. dispar SAW760 strain in humans. This suggests transmission of E. dispar between humans and nonhuman primates. These results demonstrate that Entamoeba infections are common, but virulent Entamoeba species are absent in this colony. This work also confirms the need for monitoring with PCR-based identification of Entamoeba species for captive macaques in breeding colonies to ensure animal health and protection of humans from zoonotic hazards.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, Shanghai Medical College of Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China.
authors.forename: Meng
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Liu
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Yongfeng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.forename: Yijun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhuang
authors.forename: Longgan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Xunjia
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tachibana
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D001947:Breeding; D002681:China; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics; D018562:Disease Transmission, Infectious; D004747:Entamoeba / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004749:Entamoebiasis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology* / Q000635:transmission / Q000662:veterinary; D005243:Feces / Q000469:parasitology; D006801:Humans; D008252:Macaca fascicularis / Q000469:parasitology*; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D008992:Monkey Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology* / Q000635:transmission; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000662:veterinary; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D015995:Prevalence; D016415:Sequence Alignment
chemical_list: D016054:DNA, Protozoan