Diversity of gastrointestinal parasites in sympatric mammals in Moukalaba-Doudou National Park, Gabon

Vet World Vol.14 December-2021 Article-12

Research Article

Veterinary World, 14(12): 3149-3155

https://doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2021.3149-3155

Serge-Ely Dibakou¹, Ulrich Maloueki^2,3, Barthélémy Ngoubangoye¹, Larson Boundenga^1,4, Stephan Ntie⁵, Thierry-Audrey Tsoumbou¹, Cyr Moussadji¹, Rina Obame Zang³, Dikenane Kombila³, and Didier Basset⁶

1. Centre de Primatologie, Centre Interdisciplinaire de Recherches Médicales de Franceville (CIRMF), BP 769 Franceville, Gabon.
2. Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Kinshasa University, PO Box 190, Kinshasa XI.
3. Protectrice des Grands Singes de la Moukalaba (PROGRAM), PO Box 861, Libreville, Tchibanga, Gabon.
4. Groupe Evolution et Transmission Inter-espèces de Parasites (GETIP) du Département de Parasitologie, Centre Interdisciplinaire de Recherches Médicales de Franceville, BP 769 Franceville, Gabon.
5. Département de Biologie, Laboratoire de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire, Université des Sciences et Techniques de Masuku, BP 941, Franceville, Gabon.
6. Parasitology Laboratory, CHU Montpellier, Montpellier, France.

Background and Aim: Gastrointestinal parasites identified in the wild can negatively affect host fitness, lower performance, and growth. On the other side, sympatric mammals that share habitat and resources may also cross-transmit parasites, which are often zoonotic and can contribute to morbidity and mortality. This study aimed to characterize the diversity of gastrointestinal parasites circulating in mammalian hosts in Moukalaba-Doudou National Park.

Materials and Methods: We screened a total of 25 fecal samples collected from nine wild mammalian species, namely, western gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla), chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes), putty-nosed monkey (Cercopithecus nictitans), African forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis), African buffalo (Syncerus caffer), blue duiker (Philantomba monticola), bay duiker (Cephalophus dorsalis), and red river hog (Potamochoerus porcus) as well as people working as trackers (Homo sapiens) using direct microscopic observations following a sedimentation technique to concentrate the fecal material.

Results: Of the total 25 fecal samples screened, 15 (60%) were positive for parasitic gastrointestinal infection. Based on the morphology of parasite eggs and cysts, we identified a rich diversity of nematodes, protozoans, trematodes, and cestodes, including unidentified strongyles (73%), Oesophagostomum spp. (53%), Ancylostoma spp. (27%), Trichuris spp. (13%), Ascaris spp. (13%), Mammomonogamus spp. (13%), Strongyloides spp. (47%), Balantidium coli (20%), Entamoeba coli (20%), Endolimax nana (6%), Fasciola hepatica (6%), Paramphistomum spp. (13%), and Taenia spp. (6%).

Conclusion: All parasites were found at least once in one of the hosts, and most were potentially zoonotic and responsible for several diseases of public health concern. Because of the small sample size, our findings should not be considered conclusive. Nevertheless, they highlight the diversity of gastrointestinal parasites in this area. Keywords: conservation, coprology, gastrointestinal parasites, Moukalaba-Doudou National Park, wildlife mammals.

Keywords: conservation, coprology, gastrointestinal parasites, Moukalaba-Doudou National Park, wildlife mammals.

How to cite this article: Dibakou S, Maloueki U, Ngoubangoye B, Boundenga L, Ntie S, Tsoumbou T, Moussadji C, Zang RO, Kombila D, Basset D (2021) Diversity of gastrointestinal parasites in sympatric mammals in Moukalaba-Doudou National Park, Gabon, Veterinary World, 14(12): 3149-3155.

Received: 19-04-2021 Accepted: 12-11-2021 Published online: 25-12-2021

Corresponding author: Serge-Ely Dibakou E-mail: sergeely@live.fr

DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2021.3149-3155

Copyright: Dibakou, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.