Dominance of the Enterocytozoon bieneusi genotype BEB6 in red deer (Cervus elaphus) and Siberian roe deer (Capreolus pygargus) in China and a brief literature review

Abstract

Enterocytozoon bieneusi is the most frequently diagnosed microsporidian species in humans and is also found in a wide range of animals. It is considered to be an important but neglected zoonotic pathogen. With the development of deer bred in captivity, the number of deer has been increasing in recent years in China and there are more people involved in this work. The aims of this study were to determine prevalence and genotypes of E. bieneusi in red deer (Cervus elaphus) and Siberian roe deer (Capreolus pygargus), and to assess their potential zoonotic transmission. A total of 122 fecal specimens were collected from 104 red deer and 18 roe deer from three deer farms in Heilongjiang and Jilin Provinces, China. Enterocytozoon bieneusi was detected and genotyped by PCR and sequencing of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of the rRNA gene. The average infection rate was 8.2% (10/122), with 7.7% (8/104) for red deer and 11.1% (2/18) for roe deer. Two genotypes were identified: a known genotype BEB6 (n = 9) and a novel genotype named HLJD-VI (n = 1). This is the first report of E. bieneusi infection in Siberian roe deer. The fact that genotype BEB6 was detected previously in one human case of microsporidiosis, and that genotype HLJD-VI fell into zoonotic group 1, suggest the possibility of transmission to humans. A brief review of E. bieneusi genotypes in deer worldwide shows that 40 genotypes have been found in seven deer species, with genotype BEB6 being predominant.

The Potential Role of Synanthropic Rodents and Flies in the Transmission of Enterocytozoon bieneusi on a Dairy Cattle farm in China

“…BEB6 has been found in water samples, as well as in a vast range of animal species worldwide, including humans, carnivores, ruminants, rodents, nonhuman primates, and birds (Zhao et al. ).…”

“…; Santín and Fayer ; Thellier and Breton ; Zhao et al. ). The majority of these genotypes were placed in the zoonotic Group 1 in a phylogenetic analysis; others are clustered in Group 2 through Group 9, which are typically found in specific hosts and wastewater (Karim et al.…”

“…Studies have revealed direct and indirect transmission routes (Fayer and Santin‐Duran ; Zhao et al. ) and many species of animals have been identified as reservoir hosts of this parasite (Wan et al. ; Yang et al.…”

“…Over 240 E. bieneusi genotypes have been identified in humans and animals, based on DNA sequence analysis of the ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) Sant ın and Fayer 2009;Thellier and Breton 2008;Zhao et al 2017). The majority of these genotypes were placed in the zoonotic Group 1 in a phylogenetic analysis; others are clustered in Group 2 through Group 9, which are typically found in specific hosts and wastewater Thellier and Breton 2008).…”

“…The majority of these genotypes were placed in the zoonotic Group 1 in a phylogenetic analysis; others are clustered in Group 2 through Group 9, which are typically found in specific hosts and wastewater Thellier and Breton 2008). An increasing number of reports now show that some genotypes from Group 2 (I, J, BEB4, and BEB6) also have the ability to infect humans (Li et al 2012;Sak et al 2011b;Wang et al 2013;Zhang et al 2011;Zhao et al 2017), which may suggest that Group 2 also has zoonotic potential.…”