title: Year-long presence of Eimeria echidnae and absence of Eimeria tachyglossi in captive short-beaked echidnas ( Tachyglossus aculeatus ).
abstract: The short-beaked echidna ( Tachyglossus aculeatus ) is 1 of 5 extant species of monotreme, found only in Australia and Papua New Guinea. The aim of this study was to identify the species of coccidia present and establish a range of subclinical Eimeria spp. (Coccidia: Apicomplexa) oocyst shedding in echidnas from eastern Australia over 18 mo. The coccidia were detected in 89% (49/55) of fecal samples from 12 long-term monitored and healthy captive echidnas, 75% (3/4) of 4 healthy long-term captive echidnas, 83% (5/6) of 6 short-term captive echidnas, and 60% (6/10) of 10 wild echidnas. Echidnas captive for 4 to 23 yr shed 100-46,000 oocysts g(-1) of E. echidnae and remained clinically healthy during this study. Sub-adult and adult wild, and short-term captive, echidnas shed oocysts of both E. echidnae and E. tachyglossi . The lack of coccidia in juvenile short-beaked echidnas suggests these animals are probably non-immune and should not be placed in environments heavily contaminated with oocysts. In addition, no oocysts were found in captive long-beaked echidnas ( Zaglossus bartoni bartoni , n  =  2) housed at Taronga Zoo. This study represents an important step in understanding the host-parasite interaction between coccidia and short-beaked echidnas.
authors.affiliation: Veterinary Science, University of Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia.
authors.forename: John J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Debenham
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: Larry
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Vogelnest
authors.forename: David N
authors.initials: DN
authors.lastname: Phalen
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Whittington
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Slapeta
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D000836:Animals, Zoo; D003048:Coccidiosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*; D004539:Eimeria / Q000145:classification / Q000502:physiology*; D005243:Feces / Q000469:parasitology; D006799:Housing, Animal; D009517:New South Wales / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D012621:Seasons; D013045:Species Specificity; D004442:Tachyglossidae / Q000469:parasitology*; D013696:Temperature