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Molecular identification of Enterocytozoon bieneusi, Cryptosporidium, and Giardia in Brazilian captive birds

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Abstract

A total of 85 fecal samples from captive birds collected from October 2013 to September 2014 in Uberlândia and Belo Horizonte in the state of Minas Gerais (Brazil) were evaluated for the presence of Enterocytozoon bieneusi, Cryptosporidium, and Giardia by PCR. Of these, three birds were found positive for E. bieneusi (3.5%), two for Cryptosporidium (2.3%), and one for Giardia (1.2%). Two genotypes of E. bieneusi were detected by nucleotide sequence analysis of the ITS region, genotypes D and Peru 6 in a swan goose and in two rock pigeons, respectively. For Cryptosporidium and Giardia, nucleotide sequence analysis of the SSU rRNA identified Cryptosporidium baileyi and Duck genotype in a swan goose and a mandarin duck, respectively, and Giardia duodenalis assemblage A in a toco toucon. Our results demonstrate that human-pathogenic E. bieneusi genotypes D and Peru6 and G. duodenalis assemblage A are present in captive birds in Brazil, corroborating their potential role as a source of human infection and environmental contamination.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES), process number 99999.009537/2014-07.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. US Department of Agriculture, Environmental Microbial and Food Safety Laboratory, Agricultural Research Service, Building 173, BARC-East, 10300 Baltimore Avenue, Beltsville, MD, 20705, USA

    Maria Júlia Rodrigues da Cunha & Mónica Santín

  2. Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Laboratório de Parasitologia, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Av. Pará, 1720, Campus Umuarama, 38400-902, Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, Brasil

    Maria Júlia Rodrigues da Cunha & Márcia Cristina Cury

  3. CAPES Foundation, Ministry of Education of Brazil, Caixa Postal 250, 70040-020, Brasília, DF, Brazil

    Maria Júlia Rodrigues da Cunha

Authors
  1. Maria Júlia Rodrigues da Cunha
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  2. Márcia Cristina Cury
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  3. Mónica Santín
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Correspondence to Mónica Santín.

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da Cunha, M.J.R., Cury, M.C. & Santín, M. Molecular identification of Enterocytozoon bieneusi, Cryptosporidium, and Giardia in Brazilian captive birds. Parasitol Res 116, 487–493 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-016-5309-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-016-5309-6

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