Prevalence of Cryptosporidium spp., Enterocytozoon bieneusi, Encephalitozoon spp. and Giardia intestinalis in Wild, Semi-Wild and Captive Orangutans (Pongo abelii and Pongo pygmaeus) on Sumatra and Borneo, Indonesia

Abstract

BackgroundOrangutans are critically endangered primarily due to loss and fragmentation of their natural habitat. This could bring them into closer contact with humans and increase the risk of zoonotic pathogen transmission.AimsTo describe the prevalence and diversity of Cryptosporidium spp., microsporidia and Giardia intestinalis in orangutans at seven sites on Sumatra and Kalimantan, and to evaluate the impact of orangutans’ habituation and location on the occurrence of these zoonotic protists.ResultThe overall prevalence of parasites in 298 examined animals was 11.1%. The most prevalent microsporidia was Encephalitozoon cuniculi genotype II, found in 21 animals (7.0%). Enterocytozoon bieneusi genotype D (n = 5) and novel genotype Pongo 2 were detected only in six individuals (2.0%). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of these parasites in orangutans. Eight animals were positive for Cryptosporidium spp. (2.7%), including C. parvum (n = 2) and C. muris (n = 6). Giardia intestinalis assemblage B, subtype MB6, was identified in a single individual. While no significant differences between the different human contact level groups (p = 0.479–0.670) or between the different islands (p = 0.992) were reported in case of E. bieneusi or E. cuniculi, Cryptosporidium spp. was significantly less frequently detected in wild individuals (p < 2×10−16) and was significantly more prevalent in orangutans on Kalimantan than on Sumatra (p < 2×10−16).ConclusionOur results revealed that wild orangutans are significantly less frequently infected by Cryptosporidium spp. than captive and semi-wild animals. In addition, this parasite was more frequently detected at localities on Kalimantan. In contrast, we did not detect any significant difference in the prevalence of microsporidia between the studied groups of animals. The sources and transmission modes of infections were not determined, as this would require repeated sampling of individuals, examination of water sources, and sampling of humans and animals sharing the habitat with orangutans.

Molecular prevalence and subtyping of Cryptosporidium hominis among captive long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) and rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) from Hainan Island, southern China

“…Low prevalence of Cryptosporidium was also reported in laboratory-reared cynomolgus monkeys (0.5%) in Guangxi, China [22]. In addition, the prevalence of Cryptosporidium in M. fascicularis in the present study was higher than that reported for M. fascicularis in Thailand (1.0%), mountain gorillas in Rwanda (4.0%) and Uganda (4.0%), in orangutans from Indonesia (2.7%), in olive baboons from Kenya (2.6%), and in western lowland gorillas from the Central African Republic (0.5%) [16, 17, 23–25, 27]. However, although the reported positivity rates were lower in wild primates conducted in other countries compared to the present study, NHPs from Tanzania exhibited much higher rates of infection than those observed here [26].…”

Multilocus genotyping of Enterocytozoon bieneusi derived from nonhuman primates in southwest China

“…Furthermore, genotypes D, and PigEBITS7 have been observed in human living in China as well, and genotype D were also found in people from Nigeria, Niger, Vietnam, Cameroon, Gabon, Malawi, Holland, and England [4, 6, 25–30]. NHPs have many biological characteristics similar to humans and are susceptible hosts to some human infectious diseases.…”

Parasites of orangutans (primates: ponginae): An overview

“…Currently, the use of molecular methods in orangutan parasite diagnostics is increasing, which has led to the identification of parasites to the species level. E. histolytica , Encephalitozoon cuniculi genotype II, two genotypes of Enterocytozoon bieneusi (D and Pongo 2), and Giardia intestinalis assemblage B infections in orangutans have been confirmed by using this molecular technique for the first time (Mynářová et al, ; Stuart et al, ).…”