Detection and molecular epidemiology of echinococcus spp in the wild and domestic carnivores in the wildlife-livestock interface areas of the South Luangwa national park in Mfuwe of Mambwe district of Zambia.
Date
2025
Authors
Nyirongo, Moses
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Journal ISSN
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Publisher
The University of Zambia
Abstract
Echinococcosis is a zoonotic disease with specific genotypes or strains caused by parasites of the genus Echinococcus. The close relationship between humans and animals provides chances of transmission of this zoonotic disease. Globally, there may be more than one million people living with these diseases at any given point in time, making echinococcosis as a major public health concern, more especially in developing countries with meagre economic resources. However, there are major constraints when it comes to prevention measures which are exacerbated by more emerging fatal zoonotic infections. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of Echinococcus spp. in the wild and domestic carnivores in the wildlife-livestock interface areas. A cross-sectional study was conducted from March 2019 – January 2020. A total of 631 stool samples from wild carnivores were collected from the South Luangwa National Park game management area and 442 stool samples were domestic dogs collected from six zones of Mfuwe in Mambwe District. The samples were subjected to microscopic isolation of taeniid eggs and DNA extraction for sequencing at University of Zambia, School of Veterinary Medicine laboratory. Up to an average of 20 taeniid eggs per positive faecal sample were picked and lysed. Polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) and sequencing were performed using Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide (NAD) nest and Big dye standard
protocol. The proportion of stool samples of wild carnivores which were found with taeniid eggs was 1.3% (8/631) and domestic dogs was 0% (0/334). Among the wild carnivore samples, 14.4 % (17/118) of the lion stool samples were found to be positive with Echinococcus spp. In the phylogenetic tree of Echinococcus which was constructed from the mitochondrial genes, E. felidis was positioned as a sister taxon of E. granulosus sensu stricto. The obtained sequences of the mitochondrial nad1 gene showed 98% identity to previously published sequence of E. felidis (MG 271924) in Kenya. All DNA fragments (<200bp) showed 98% similarity with E. felidis sequences from Kenyan dog’s (MG271925) and lions in Uganda (EF558357). The results of this study indicated that Echinococcus felidis is prevalent in canid wildlife while there is no evidence in dogs. However, this does portray a potential risk given that there is an interaction among humans, domestic dogs and wildlife as they share the same habitat. Therefore, there is a need to create a platform for information, education and communication in the game areas about the dangers of this infection to increase preventive and control measures.
Description
Thesis of Master of Science in One Health Analytical Epidemiology.