Diversity of microsporidia, Cryptosporidium and Giardia in mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei) in Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda.
BACKGROUND
Infectious diseases represent the greatest threats to endangered species, and transmission from humans to wildlife under increased anthropogenic pressure has been always stated as a major risk of habituation.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the impact of close contact with humans on the occurrence of potentially zoonotic protists in great apes, one hundred mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei) from seven groups habituated either for tourism or for research in Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda were screened for the presence of microsporidia, Cryptosporidium spp. and Giardia spp. using molecular diagnostics.


RESULTS
The most frequently detected parasites were Enterocytozoon bieneusi found in 18 samples (including genotype EbpA, D, C, gorilla 2 and five novel genotypes gorilla 4-8) and Encephalitozoon cuniculi with genotype II being more prevalent (10 cases) compared to genotype I (1 case). Cryptosporidium muris (2 cases) and C. meleagridis (2 cases) were documented in great apes for the first time. Cryptosporidium sp. infections were identified only in research groups and occurrence of E. cuniculi in research groups was significantly higher in comparison to tourist groups. No difference in prevalence of E. bieneusi was observed between research and tourist groups.


CONCLUSIONS
Although our data showed the presence and diversity of important opportunistic protists in Volcanoes gorillas, the source and the routes of the circulation remain unknown. Repeated individual sampling, broad sampling of other hosts sharing the habitat with gorillas and quantification of studied protists would be necessary to acquire more complex data.
Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, v.v.i., České Budějovice, Czech Republic.
Bohumil
B
Sak
Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, v.v.i., České Budějovice, Czech Republic; Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, v.v.i., Brno, Czech Republic; Liberec Zoo, Liberec, Czech Republic; Department of Pathology and Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Brno, Czech Republic.
Klára J
KJ
Petrželková
Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, v.v.i., České Budějovice, Czech Republic.
Dana
D
Květoňová
Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, České Budějovice, Czech Republic.
Anna
A
Mynářová
Department of Pathology and Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Brno, Czech Republic.
Kateřina
K
Pomajbíková
Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, v.v.i., České Budějovice, Czech Republic; Department of Pathology and Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Brno, Czech Republic; CEITEC - Central European Institute of Technology, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Brno, Czech Republic.
David
D
Modrý
Gorilla Doctors, Karen C Drayer Wildlife Health Center, Davis, CA, United States of America.
Michael R
MR
Cranfield
Rwanda Development Board (RDB), Kigali, Rwanda.
Antoine
A
Mudakikwa
Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, v.v.i., České Budějovice, Czech Republic; Faculty of Agriculture, University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, České Budějovice, Czech Republic.
Martin
M
Kváč
D000818:Animals; D018420:Ape Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology / Q000469:parasitology; D003457:Cryptosporidiosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology; D003458:Cryptosporidium / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D021901:DNA, Intergenic / Q000235:genetics; D016819:Encephalitozoon / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D016890:Encephalitozoonosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D005872:Giardia / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005873:Giardiasis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology; D015186:Hominidae; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D000068316:Parks, Recreational; D010802:Phylogeny; D012432:Rwanda / Q000453:epidemiology; D015047:Zoonoses / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology / Q000469:parasitology
D021901:DNA, Intergenic