Publication details
Occurrence of parasitic microsporidia Encephalitozoon spp. for wild rodents in Brno ZOO
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2018 |
| Type | Article in Proceedings |
| Conference | XX. KONFERENCE MLADÝCH VĚDECKÝCH PRACOVNÍKŮ S MEZINÁRODNÍ ÚČASTÍ |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Keywords | parasitic microsporidia Encephalitozoon spp. wild rodents Brno ZOO |
| Description | Encephalitozoon spp. belongs to obligatory intracellular microsporidia, which is responsible for systematic disease in mammals. Encephalitozoonosis is important in human and veterinary medicine but we know little of its occurrence in wild rodents. The aim of this study was to detect Encephalitozoon spp. in wild rodents in ZOO Brno. Trapping of rodents was done by using spring traps and life-hunt traps in years 2016 – 2017. In total, 49 rodents were trapped including 27 Yellow-necked Field Mouse (Apodemus flavicollis), 19 Long-tailed Field Mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus) and three Bank Vole (Clethrionomys glareolus). Encephalitozoon spp. was detected in liver of 13 (26,5 %) rodents by nested PCR using two primer pairs (inside and outside ones). Positive animals included nine Yellow-necked Field Mouse, three Long-tailed Field Mouse and one Bank Vole. Our results demonstrate that wild rodents in ZOO Brno are coming into contact with Encephalitozoon spp., and they can serve as source of infection for zoo animals but also for humans (zoo personnel and visitors). |