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The role of free-ranging, captive, and domestic birds of Western Poland in environmental contamination with Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts and Giardia lamblia cysts

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Abstract

As Cryptosporidium parvum and Giardia lamblia can be disseminated in the environment by avian hosts, a total of 499 fecal dropping from 308 free-ranging, 90 captive, and 101 domestic birds were tested by conventional, immunological, and molecular techniques for these human enteropathogens. Twenty-six (5.2%) tested positive for G. lamblia cysts and 19 (3.8%) for C. parvum oocysts. A bird total of 23 (7.5%) free-ranging, two (2.2%) captive, and one (0.1%) domestic tested positive for cysts, whereas 18 (5.8%) free-ranging, one (1.1%) captive, and zero livestock birds tested positive for oocysts. G. lamblia cysts and C. parvum oocysts were found significantly more frequently in fecal droppings of free-ranging aquatic birds than in birds not normally associated with water. No specimen tested positive for both pathogens simultaneously. Aquatic birds represent an important epidemiologic link in water-associated transmission cycles of Cryptosporidium and Giardia and play a significant role in environmental contamination of aquatic habitats with these anthropozoonotic pathogens.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine I, Poznan, Poland (grant no. 502-1-0003496), Environmental Protection Agency STRIVE Program (grant no. 2008-EH-MS-3-S3), and the Fulbright Senior Specialist Fellowship (grant no. 2225 to T.K. Graczyk). We thank Irena Robak for her technical assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology and Medical Parasitology, Faculty Medicine I, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poznan, Poland

    Anna C. Majewska, Anna Słodkowicz-Kowalska, Szymon Jędrzejewski, Piotr Solarczyk & Piotr Nowosad

  2. Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Division of Environmental Health Engineering, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N. Wolfe St., Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA

    Thaddeus K. Graczyk & Leena Tamang

  3. Johns Hopkins Center for Water and Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA

    Thaddeus K. Graczyk

  4. Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA

    Thaddeus K. Graczyk

  5. Department of Avian Biology and Ecology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Faculty of Biology, Institute of Environmental Biology, Poznan, Poland

    Piotr Zduniak

  6. Department of Systematic Zoology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Faculty of Biology, Institute of Environmental Biology, Poznan, Poland

    Andrzej Nowosad

Authors
  1. Anna C. Majewska
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  2. Thaddeus K. Graczyk
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  3. Anna Słodkowicz-Kowalska
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  4. Leena Tamang
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  5. Szymon Jędrzejewski
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  6. Piotr Zduniak
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  7. Piotr Solarczyk
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  8. Andrzej Nowosad
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  9. Piotr Nowosad
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Correspondence to Thaddeus K. Graczyk.

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Majewska, A.C., Graczyk, T.K., Słodkowicz-Kowalska, A. et al. The role of free-ranging, captive, and domestic birds of Western Poland in environmental contamination with Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts and Giardia lamblia cysts. Parasitol Res 104, 1093–1099 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-008-1293-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-008-1293-9

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