1. Multiyear Survey of Coccidia, Cryptosporidia, Microsporidia, Histomona, and Hematozoa in Wild Quail in the Rolling Plains Ecoregion of Texas and Oklahoma, USA.
- Author
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Xiang L, Guo F, Yu Y, Parson LS, LaCoste L, Gibson A, Presley SM, Peterson M, Craig TM, Rollins D, Fedynich AM, and Zhu G
- Subjects
- Animals, Bird Diseases epidemiology, Coccidia genetics, Colinus parasitology, Cryptosporidiosis epidemiology, Cryptosporidiosis parasitology, Cryptosporidium genetics, DNA, Protozoan analysis, DNA, Protozoan genetics, Feces parasitology, Female, Male, Microsporidia genetics, Microsporidiosis epidemiology, Microsporidiosis parasitology, Oklahoma epidemiology, Polymerase Chain Reaction methods, Protozoan Infections, Animal diagnosis, Protozoan Infections, Animal epidemiology, Quail blood, Risk Factors, Surveys and Questionnaires, Texas epidemiology, Trichomonadida genetics, Tritrichomonas genetics, Bird Diseases parasitology, Coccidia isolation & purification, Cryptosporidium isolation & purification, Microsporidia isolation & purification, Microsporidiosis veterinary, Protozoan Infections, Animal parasitology, Quail parasitology, Trichomonadida isolation & purification, Tritrichomonas isolation & purification
- Abstract
We developed nested PCR protocols and performed a multiyear survey on the prevalence of several protozoan parasites in wild northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) and scaled quail (Callipepla squamata) in the Rolling Plains ecoregion of Texas and Oklahoma (i.e. fecal pellets, bird intestines and blood smears collected between 2010 and 2013). Coccidia, cryptosporidia, and microsporidia were detected in 46.2%, 11.7%, and 44.0% of the samples (n = 687), whereas histomona and hematozoa were undetected. Coccidia consisted of one major and two minor Eimeria species. Cryptosporidia were represented by a major unknown Cryptosporidium species and Cryptosporidium baileyi. Detected microsporidia species were highly diverse, in which only 11% were native avian parasites including Encephalitozoon hellem and Encephalitozoon cuniculi, whereas 33% were closely related to species from insects (e.g. Antonospora, Liebermannia, and Sporanauta). This survey suggests that coccidia infections are a significant risk factor in the health of wild quail while cryptosporidia and microsporidia may be much less significant than coccidiosis. In addition, the presence of E. hellem and E. cuniculi (known to cause opportunistic infections in humans) suggests that wild quail could serve as a reservoir for human microsporidian pathogens, and individuals with compromised or weakened immunity should probably take precautions while directly handling wild quail., (© 2016 The Author(s) Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology © 2016 International Society of Protistologists.)
- Published
- 2017
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