Toxoplasma gondii in Wild Red Squirrels, the Netherlands, 2014.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Kik M
PROVIDER: S-EPMC4672420 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Dec
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Toxoplasma gondii in Wild Red Squirrels, the Netherlands, 2014.
Kik Marja M IJzer Jooske J Opsteegh Marieke M Montizaan Margriet M Dijkstra Vilmar V Rijks Jolianne J Gröne Andrea A
Emerging infectious diseases 20151201 12
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Project description:BackgroundIn September 2014, there was sudden upsurge in the number of Eurasian red squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris) found dead in the Netherlands. High infection levels with the parasite Toxoplasma gondii were demonstrated, but it was unclear what had caused this increase in cases of fatal toxoplasmosis. In the present study, we aimed to gain more knowledge on the pathology and prevalence of T. gondii infections in Eurasian red squirrels in the Netherlands, on the T. gondii genotypes present, and on the determinants of the spatiotemporal variability in these T. gondii infections. The presence of the closely related parasite Hammondia hammondi was also determined.MethodsEurasian red squirrels that were found dead in the wild or that had died in wildlife rescue centres in the Netherlands over a period of seven years (2014-2020) were examined. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction was conducted to analyse tissue samples for the presence of T. gondii and H. hammondi DNA. Toxoplasma gondii-positive samples were subjected to microsatellite typing and cluster analysis. A mixed logistic regression was used to identify climatic and other environmental predictors of T. gondii infection in the squirrels.ResultsA total of 178 squirrels were examined (49/178 T. gondii positive, 5/178 H. hammondi positive). Inflammation of multiple organs was the cause of death in 29 squirrels, of which 24 were also T. gondii polymerase chain reaction positive. Toxoplasma gondii infection was positively associated with pneumonia and hepatitis. Microsatellite typing revealed only T. gondii type II alleles. Toxoplasma gondii infection rates showed a positive correlation with the number of days of heavy rainfall in the previous 12 months. Conversely, they showed a negative association with the number of hot days within the 2-week period preceding the sampling date, as well as with the percentage of deciduous forest cover at the sampling site.ConclusionsToxoplasma gondii infection in the squirrels appeared to pose a significant risk of acute mortality. The T. gondii genotype detected in this study is commonly found across Europe. The reasons for the unusually high infection rates and severe symptoms of these squirrels from the Netherlands remain unclear. The prevalence of T. gondii in the deceased squirrels was linked to specific environmental factors. However, whether the increase in the number of dead squirrels indicated a higher environmental contamination with T. gondii oocysts has yet to be established.
| S-EPMC10804655 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Small mammals such as rodents can to carry zoonotic pathogens. Currently, there is impaired knowledge on zoonotic pathogens in rodents and insectivores in the Netherlands. This limits opportunities for preventive measures and complicates risk-assessments for zoonotic transmission to humans. Leptospira spp. and Toxoplasma gondii are present on a list of prioritized emerging pathogens in the Netherlands and were therefore the focus of this study. Both pathogens have the ability to survive under moist environmental conditions. In total, a group of 379 small mammals (rodents & insectivores) were tested on pathogenic Leptospira spp., and 312 on T. gondii. Rodents and insectivores were trapped at various sites, but mostly on pig and dairy farms throughout the country. Over five percent of the animals (5.3%, n = 379) tested positive for Leptospira DNA, and five of the animals (1.6%, n = 312) tested were positive for T. gondii DNA. The animals positive for T.gondii were all brown rats and the ones for Leptospira spp. were various species. Our results show that insectivores and rodents might be used as an indicator for the environmental contamination and/or the contamination in wildlife for Leptospira spp.
| S-EPMC7397885 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The gut microbiome impacts host health and fitness, in part through the diversification of gut metabolic function and pathogen protection. Elevations in glucocorticoids (GCs) appear to reduce gut microbiome diversity in experimental studies, suggesting that a loss of microbial diversity may be a negative consequence of increased GCs. However, given that ecological factors like food availability and population density may independently influence both GCs and microbial diversity, understanding how these factors structure the GC-microbiome relationship is crucial to interpreting its significance in wild populations. Here, we used an ecological framework to investigate the relationship between GCs and gut microbiome diversity in wild North American red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus). As expected, higher GCs predicted lower gut microbiome diversity and an increase in metabolic taxa. Surprisingly, but in line with prior empirical studies on wild animals, gastrointestinal pathogens decreased as GCs increased. Both dietary heterogeneity and an upcoming food pulse exhibited direct effects on gut microbiome diversity, whereas conspecific density and reproductive activity impacted diversity indirectly via changes in host GCs. Our results provide evidence of a gut-brain axis in wild red squirrels and highlight the importance of situating the GC-gut microbiome relationship within an ecological framework.
| S-EPMC8850573 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Eurasian red squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris) in the British Isles are the most recently discovered animal reservoir for the leprosy bacteria Mycobacterium leprae and Mycobacterium lepromatosis. Initial data suggest that prevalence of leprosy infection is variable and often low in different squirrel populations. Nothing is known about the presence of leprosy bacilli in other wild squirrel species despite two others (Siberian chipmunk [Tamias sibiricus], and Thirteen-lined ground squirrel [Ictidomys tridecemlineatus]) having been reported to be susceptible to experimental infection with M. leprae. Rats, a food-source in some countries where human leprosy occurs, have been suggested as potential reservoirs for leprosy bacilli, but no evidence supporting this hypothesis is currently available. We screened 301 squirrel samples covering four species [96 Eurasian red squirrels, 67 Eastern gray squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis), 35 Siberian chipmunks, and 103 Pallas's squirrels (Callosciurus erythraeus)] from Europe and 72 Mexican white-throated woodrats (Neotoma albigula) for the presence of M. leprae and M. lepromatosis using validated PCR protocols. No DNA from leprosy bacilli was detected in any of the samples tested. Given our sample-size, the pathogen should have been detected if the prevalence and/or bacillary load in the populations investigated were similar to those found for British red squirrels.
| S-EPMC6367869 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Bacterial diversity within animals is emerging as an essential component of health, but it is unknown how stress may influence the microbiome. We quantify a proximate link between the oral microbiome and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity using faecal glucocorticoid metabolites (FGM) in wild red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus). Not only was bacterial diversity lower at higher levels of FGM, but also between capture periods a change in bacterial relative abundance was related to an increase in FGM. These linkages between the HPA axis and microbiome communities represent a powerful capacity for stress to have multi-dimensional effects on health.
| S-EPMC4785925 | biostudies-literature
Project description:IntroductionToxoplasma gondii infections have been reported for many warm-blooded animals around the world including chiropterans. However, in Colombia, the country that holds the highest taxonomic richness of this order of mammals in the Neotropics, up to date there are no reports of T. gondii in bats (Carollia brevicauda).PurposeThe objective of the present study was to detect T. gondii DNA from internal bat organs from Quindío, Colombia.ResultsWe report the first detection of T. gondii DNA from internal bat organs in the department of Quindio, Central Andes of Colombia. Out of three silky short tail bat (Carollia brevicauda) specimens collected at the natural reserve "La Montaña del Ocaso", organs were recovered (lungs, liver, heart, kidneys, small and large intestine) and tested for T. gondii through PCR for B1 sequence, with 1/3 (33.3%) positive result for the presence of T. gondii DNA in bat kidney tissues.ConclusionTaking into consideration the high diversity of bat species in Colombia, and the complexity of the ecological and functional relationships that these organisms establish in the ecosystems they inhabit, we discuss on the urgent need for more detailed research and surveys for Toxoplansma in bats and other mammalian wild species.
| S-EPMC7238717 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Wildlife plays an important role in the epidemiological cycle of Toxoplasma gondii. The European wild rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) can be a source of infection to wild and domestic hosts, including human beings. Additionally, as an herbivorous animal, the European wild rabbit may also be a sentinel of environmental contamination with T. gondii and, consequently, an indicator of the potential transmission of this parasite. The purpose of the present work was to detect T. gondii DNA in European wild rabbit from central Portugal, as well as the possible implications for public health. Heart and diaphragm samples were obtained from 28 rabbits hunted in central Portugal. Nested PCR separately amplified the 5' and 3' ends of the surface antigen 2 (SAG2) gene. T. gondii DNA was detected in 19 out of the 28 sampled animals, resulting in a prevalence of 67.9%. These results show that T. gondii infection occurs in European wild rabbit and therefore may pose a potential risk for humans if consumed as raw or undercooked meat. Measures should be taken in order to prevent infection by this zoonotic parasite and for the conservation of wildlife. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study performed by means of PCR on T. gondii in European wild rabbit meat samples.
| S-EPMC7761901 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundToxoplasma gondii is a apicomplexan parasite of virtually all warm-blooded species. All true cats (Felidae) can act as definitive hosts for this parasite by shedding resistant oocysts into the environment. However, the patterns of oocysts shedding are only partially understood in domestic cats and largely unknown in wild felids.ObjectivesWe carried out molecular analysis of 82 faecal samples from wild felids collected in the Serra dos Órgãos National Park (Parnaso), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.MethodsWe screened samples for T. gondii DNA using a quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) targeting the 529bp DNA fragment. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-positive samples were genotyped using 15 microsatellite markers.ResultsOnly one faecal sample from a Puma yagouaroundi was PCR-positive [cycle threshold (Ct) = 26.88]. This sample was contaminated by a T. gondii strain of BrIII lineage, a common lineage in domestic animals from Brazil.Main conclusionsThis first report of T. gondii in faeces of wild South American felids in their natural environment indicates infrequent oocyst shedding and suggests a role of acquired immunity in limiting re-excretion as in domestic cats. The presence of a domestic strain of T. gondii in a faecal sample from a wild felid at very low concentrations (not detected by microscopy) is consistent with the hypothesis of host-parasite co-adaptations limiting the circulation of T. gondii strains between domestic and wild environments.
| S-EPMC9241165 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Systematic wildlife surveillance is important to aid the prevention of zoonotic infections that jeopardize human health and undermine biodiversity. Toxoplasma gondii is an opportunistic zoonotic protozoan that can infect all endothermic vertebrates, causing severe disease in immunocompromised humans and cases of congenital transmission. Humans can be infected by ingestion of raw meat containing bradyzoites or water contaminated by oocysts. In our study, we assessed the potential circulation of Toxoplasma gondii in wild mammals by performing surveillance in the Campania region (southern Italy) and surveyed its presence from 2020 to 2022 within the framework of the Regional Plans for Wildlife Surveillance. In detail, 211 individuals belonging to five wild mammals (wolf, fox, wild boar, badger, and roe deer) underwent necropsy and the organs were analyzed by real-time PCR for the detection of the parasite. Toxoplasma gondii was found in 21.8% (46/211) of the subjects examined. No statistically significant differences were noticed between the prevalence and the host's trophic level or age, rejecting the hypotheses that Toxoplasma gondii will have a higher prevalence in top predators and adult individuals, respectively. Our work emphasized the high circulation of Toxoplasma gondii in wildlife and remarked on the critical role of anthropized areas where domestic cats and wildlife may come into contact, urging a systematic surveillance.
| S-EPMC10051445 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The increase in human population and domestic pets, such as cats, are generating important consequences in terms of habitat loss and pathogen pollution of coastal ecosystems with potential to generate negative impacts in marine biodiversity. Toxoplasma gondii is the etiological agent of zoonotic disease toxoplasmosis, and is associated with cat abundance and anthropogenic disturbance. The presence of T. gondii oocysts in the ocean has negatively affected the health status of the threatened Southern sea otter (Enhydra lutris nereis) populations. The present study analyzed seroprevalence and presence of T. gondii DNA in American mink (Neovison vison), Southern river otters (Lontra provocax) and domestic cats (Felis silvestris catus) in four different areas in Southern Chile comprising studies in rivers and lakes in Andean foothills and mountains, marine habitat and island coastal ecosystems. Mean seroprevalence of T. gondii in the study was 64% of 151 total animals sampled: 59% of 73 American mink, 77% of 13 Southern river otters, 68% of 65 domestic cats and in two of two kodkods (Leopardus guigna). Toxoplasma gondii DNA was detected in tissues from one American mink and one Southern river otter. The present study confirms the widespread distribution of T. gondii in Southern Chile, and shows a high exposure of semiaquatic mustelids and domestic cats to the parasite. Cats and anthropogenic disturbance have a role in the maintenance of T. gondii infection in ecosystems of southern Chile.
| S-EPMC6010287 | biostudies-literature