title: Zoonotic intestinal protozoan of the wild boars,Sus scrofa, in Persian Gulf's coastal area (Bushehr province), Southwestern Iran.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Wild boars,Sus scrofa, are potential reservoirs of many zoonotic diseases, and there are a possibility of transmission of the zoonotic diseases from these animals to humans and also domestic animals. This study aimed to evaluate the protozoan contamination of wild boars in the Persian Gulf's coastal area (Bushehr Province), southwestern Iran.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 25 crossbred boars were collected during a course of vertebrate pest control in Bushehr province, in 2013. Samples were collected from the gastrointestinal tracts of each boar in 5% formalin, Bouin's solution, sodium acetate-acetic acid-formalin, and polyvinyl alcohol fixatives. Fixed stool smears examined by trichrome and Ziehl-Neelsen staining.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Each of the 25 wild boars was infected with at least one of the intestinal protozoans. The rate of contamination with intestinal protozoan was 64% forBalantidium coli, 76% forIodamoebasp., 52% forEntamoeba polecki, 44% forBlastocystissp. and 8% forChilomastixsp. No intestinal coccidian was detected in studied boars when the stool samples were evaluated by Ziehl-Neelsen staining method.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Findings of this study demonstrated that wild boars in the Persian Gulf coastal area are contaminated by many protozoans, including zoonotic protozoan, which poses a potential risk to locals as well as the domestic animals of the area.
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology and Mycology, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Kambiz
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yaghoobi
authors.affiliation: Basic Sciences in Infectious Diseases Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Bahador
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sarkari
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology and Mycology, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Majid
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mansouri
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology and Mycology, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad Hossein
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Motazedian
keywords: Iran; Persian Gulf; protozoan; wild boars; zoonosis