Use of Mini-FLOTAC and Fill-FLOTAC for rapidly diagnosing parasitic infections in zoo mammals

Abstract Animals reared in restricted environments are highly susceptible to gastrointestinal infection by helminths and protozoa and therefore zoos are characterized as being parasite-rich environments. Successful implementation of control programs of these parasites in zoo environment depends upon precise and rapid diagnosing of gastrointestinal infections. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the role of the Mini-FLOTAC technique in combination with Fill-FLOTAC for rapidly diagnosing parasitic infections in zoo mammals. Fecal samples were collected from 70 animals in four different zoos located in central and southern Italy. All the samples were analyzed using Mini-FLOTAC in combination with Fill-FLOTAC. Out of the 70 pooled samples examined, 80% (24/30) were positive for at least one parasite. Among the gastrointestinal nematodes, Strongyles were the most frequent (40%), followed by Trichuris spp. (23.3%), Parascaris spp. (13.3%) and Capillaria spp. (3.3%). Among the protozoa, Blastocystis spp., Giardia spp. and Eimeria spp. were detected in 6.6%, 3.3% and 3.3%, respectively. These results show that Mini-FLOTAC in combination with Fill-FLOTAC can be used, not only for rapidly diagnosing parasitic infections in zoo mammals, but also for monitoring control programs in which large numbers of fecal samples need to be examined rapidly and reliably.

摘要 饲养于受限环境中的动物极易遭受蠕虫与原生动物引发的胃肠道感染，因此动物园被视为寄生虫富集的环境。在动物园环境中成功开展此类寄生虫防控项目，有赖于对胃肠道感染的精准快速诊断。本研究旨在验证Mini-FLOTAC技术（Mini-FLOTAC）联合Fill-FLOTAC（Fill-FLOTAC）在快速诊断动物园哺乳动物寄生虫感染中的应用价值。研究从意大利中南部四家不同动物园的70只动物身上采集了粪便样本，所有样本均采用Mini-FLOTAC联合Fill-FLOTAC进行分析。在检测的70份混合样本中，80%（24/30）的样本至少检出一种寄生虫。在胃肠道线虫中，圆线虫类（Strongyles）检出率最高（40%），其次为毛首线虫属（Trichuris spp.，23.3%）、副蛔虫属（Parascaris spp.，13.3%）与毛细线虫属（Capillaria spp.，3.3%）。在原生动物中，芽囊原虫属（Blastocystis spp.）、贾第虫属（Giardia spp.）与艾美耳球虫属（Eimeria spp.）的检出率分别为6.6%、3.3%与3.3%。上述结果表明，Mini-FLOTAC联合Fill-FLOTAC不仅可用于快速诊断动物园哺乳动物的寄生虫感染，还可用于监测需要快速可靠检测大量粪便样本的寄生虫防控项目。