Epidemiology of Gastrointestinal Parasitism in Blue Wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus), Alpacas (Vicugna pacos ), and Goats (Capra aegagrus hircus) with same Husbandry and Fence Site in Harbin Zoo, China

The study was carried out from August 2015 to August 2016 in Harbin Zoo, China (45°23′40.65″N, 127°06′39.06″E). A total of 507 fecal samples (188 blue wildebeest samples, 195 alpaca samples and 124 goat samples) were collected directly from ground immediately after they were discharged by hosts (Table I). Those animals were living in the same garden without barrier and were provided the same fodder. The fecal samples were processed and examined using saturated sodium chloride floatation technique (Srbek-Araujo et al., 2014; Owusu et al., 2016). The present parasites were identified with oocyst morphological characteristics. The eggs per gram of faces (EPG) were determined by modified McMaster technique (Nwosu et al., 2007) as an index for infection intensity.

The samples were divided into four groups based on the temperature when they were collected, namely, LNL (local natural lowest temperature) < t ≤ 0°C, 0 < t ≤ 10°C, 10 < t ≤ 20°C, and 20°C < t ≤ LNH (local natural highest temperature), or based on humidity, namely RH ≤ 60, 60 < RH ≤ 70, 70 < RH ≤ 80, and RH > 80.

The infection rate and intensity were counted by excel, and the Mann-Whitney U test was done with SPSS.

The infection rate was 39.64% (201/507) for those ruminant hosts in whole year, the highest prevalence was observed in blue wildebeest (45.74%) followed by alpacas (38.97%) and goats (12.09%).

In blue wildebeest, the size of the Capillaria sp. oocyst is 77.27×43.91μm (Fig. 1A). The infection rate of Capillaria sp. is 45.74% (Tables I, II).

All animals in the study are adults.

The types of parasites of alpacas are more abundant than that of the blue wildebeest and goats, there were six parasite species including two protozoa, one cestode, and three nematodes (Fig. 1, Table II). Most of their infection rate is less than 10% except the E. macusaniensis that is 10.64%.

There are four parasites were identified in goats, two protozoa and two nematodes. The maximum infection rate is E. christenseni (10.48%) followed by E. alijevi (8%), Strongy-type species (7.26%) and Trichuris sp. (4.03%).

The prevalence of different parasite, the same parasite in different season, temperature and humidity groups were not same completely (Tables III, IV, V).

In current work, all the fecal samples collected from different hosts were examined by the microscope observation and most of them showed positive infection, but the species of parasites were much less than the record in other documents (Boomker et al., 2000; Booyse and Dehority, 2012; Hyuga and Matsumoto, 2016; Sorathiya et al., 2017; Chartier and Paraud, 2012). The reason maybe contributed to the Zoo garden has a short history with only twelve years and located in the forestry different from other zoos.

In the environment where the host lives, the favorable temperature and relative humidity have been recognized as the important abiotic factor related to the parasite prevalence. The ideal temperature range for larval development is between 22 and 26°C usually (Ashad et al., 2011), but the

The infection intensity is significantly different (P<0.05) for each other are represented by different letters. LNL, the local natural lowest temperature; LNH, the local natural highest temperature.

The infection intensity is significantly different (P<0.05) for each other are represented by different letters. LNL, the local natural lowest temperature; LNH, the local natural highest temperature.

The infection intensity is significantly different (P<0.05) for each other are represented by different letters. LNL, the local natural lowest temperature; LNH, the local natural highest temperature.

Trichuris sp. infecting the alpacas and goats is in higher prevalence in temperature group of 0 < T ≤ 10°C. This indicated that the favorable temperature for Trichuris sp. prevalence is lower than other nematodes. The same phenomenon was recognized in slender-horned gazelle who were kept at Animal Park Planckendael in Belgium, the Trichuris sp. prevalence is much higher in May-June and Sep-Oct than July-Aug, at the same time, another Stongyle-like parasite was continues increasing from July to November (Goossens et al., 2005).

It was found that 7.21% of samples collected from various animals (alpacas and goats) were positive with Trichuris sp. In the meantime, the prevalence rate of alpacas is higher than goats. The reason for which may be related to the animal evolution, it is reasonable speculated that goats have become resistant the infection of the Trichuris sp. with evolution because of they come in China are much earlier than alpacas.

Parasites are strongly influenced not only by environmental conditions but also rely on their hosts for completing of the life cycle (Studer et al., 2010). The host or genotype specific is an important factor mediated the parasite life cycle. In our study, the spices of parasites are different in different hosts though they live in the same fence site and husbandry, which further confirmed host specific is a critical element for parasite prevalence. This will be just one of the answers that the Capillaria sp. was only in blue wildebeest population, and the parasite abundance is much higher in alpacas that goats.

In general, Migration to a new habitat can simultaneously minimize exposure to common parasites in their original habitats and increase exposure to novel pathogens from new environments (Mijele et al., 2016). It is interesting that Trichuris sp. cannot be found in blue wildebeest in this study. It is possible that blue wildebeest developed resistance to this endemic Trichuris sp. naturedly due to host specificity.

The result of this study showed that parasites infections can impair animal health and increase the sensitivity to infectious diseases. Therefore, appropriate measures are necessary to promote parasitism prevention in animals. The findings here not only were significantly to add to existing knowledge of gastrointestinal parasites but also help in keeping the health of animals, although present study is at primary level.

There is supplementary material associated with this article. Access the material online at: https://dx.doi.org/10.17582/journal.pjz/20190116080130

The author declare no conflict of interest.