Anthropogenic interferences lead to gut microbiome dysbiosis in Asian elephants and may alter adaptation processes to surrounding environments

Human activities interfere with wild animals and lead to the loss of many animal populations. Therefore, efforts have been made to understand how wildlife can rebound from anthropogenic disturbances. An essential mechanism to adapt to environmental and social changes is the fluctuations in the host gut microbiome. Here we give a comprehensive description of anthropogenically induced microbiome alterations in Asian elephants (n = 30). We detected gut microbial changes due to overseas translocation, captivity and deworming. We found that microbes belonging to Planococcaceae had the highest contribution in the microbiome alterations after translocation, while Clostridiaceae, Spirochaetaceae and Bacteroidia were the most affected after captivity. However, deworming significantly changed the abundance of Flavobacteriaceae, Sphingobacteriaceae, Xanthomonadaceae, Weeksellaceae and Burkholderiaceae. These findings may provide fundamental ideas to help guide the preservation tactics and probiotic replacement therapies of a dysbiosed gut microbiome in Asian elephants. More generally, these results show the severity of anthropogenic activities at the level of gut microbiome, altering the adaptation processes to new environments and the subsequent capability to maintain normal physiological processes in animals

ミャンマーのアジアゾウにおける消化管内寄生虫に関する形態学的および分子学的研究

In Myanmar, there are approximately 3000 captive Asian elephants, Elephas maximus, in which cyathostomine gastrointestinal nematodes and stomach bot fly cause enteritis and death especially in younger animals. Despite the importance as the causative agents, there is no study on the prevalence of those parasites in Myanmar and there are few studies with the photomicrographs or molecular aspects so far. In this study, 47 nematodes and a bot fly larva were obtained from the faeces of Asian elephants in Myanmar after anthelmintic treatment and subjected to morphological identification and molecular analysis. In the results, five cyathostomine nematode species, Murshidia falcifera (n=3), Murshidia indica (1), Murshidia neveulemairei (10), Quilonia renniei (29) and Quilonia travancra (4), and one bot fly species, Cobboldia elephantis (1), were identified by morphology with providing the photomicrographs of key structures for morphological diagnosis. For molecular study, the partial sequences of the COI gene were determined for each species. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that Murshidia indica, Quilonia renniei and Cobboldia elephantis have close relationship to Murshidia africana, Quilonia africana and Cobboldia loxodontis reported from African elephants, respectively. It was also suggested that Murshidia falcifera and Murshidia neveulemairei constructs a clade with Murshidia linstowi and Murshidia longicaudata reported from African elephants. This clade is divided into three sub-clades, one by Murshidia falcifera, one by Murshidia neveulemairei and the last by Murshidia linstowi and Murshidia longicaudata. Quilonia travancra makes one separate clade. This study was the first report of the prevalence of five cyathostomine nematode species and one species of stomach bot fly in Asian elephants in Myanmar. This study could provide the photomicrographs of key structures for morphological identification of three Murshidia, two Quilonia and one Cobboldia species 100 years after the original drawings. The COI gene sequences of M. falcifera, M. indica, M. neveulemairei, Q. renniei, Q. travancra, and C. elephantis were deposited as the first time for genetic information in Asian elephants and the phylogenetic analysis was conducted with the parasite species found in African elephants. The findings are useful for future molecular survey of parasites in Asian elephants and African elephants. Further studies such as the interaction between host, parasites, and drugs are required to provide the new insight into control strategies and more species identifications are necessary in other elephant camps in Myanmar as well as in other countries for better understanding of the evolution of gastrointestinal parasites in elephants

Molecular detection of Dirofilaria immitis and its Wolbachia endosymbionts in dogs from Myanmar

Heartworm disease in dogs and cats caused by Dirofilaria immitis continues to be a major clinical issue globally. This study focused on dogs suspicious of having tick-borne diseases (TBD) brought to a clinic and a veterinary teaching hospital in Myanmar. Blood samples were collected and initially screened using SNAP® 4Dx® Plus test kit. All dog blood samples were subjected to conventional PCR to detect both Dirofilaria spp. (cox1 gene) and Wolbachia spp. (16S rDNA) infections. Infection with D. immitis was detected in 14 (28.0%) of 50 examined samples, while the detection rate of TBD causative agents, including Anaplasma phagocytophilum and Ehrlichia canis, was 26.0% (13/50) and 26.0% (13/50), respectively, as determined by ELISA rapid test. In this study, D. immitis infection was moderately but significantly correlated with TBD infections (Pearson’s r = 0.397, P = 0.008). Comparative sequence and phylogenetic analyses provided molecular identification of D. immitis in Myanmar and confirmed the identity of its Wolbachia endosymbiont with Wolbachia endosymbionts isolated from D. immitis, Rhipicephalus sanguineus and Aedes aegypti. The present study contributes to our understanding of the coexistence of D. immitis and Wolbachia endosymbiosis in dogs, and the findings may benefit the future prevention and control of dirofilariasis in dogs

Serological Survey and Factors Associated with Toxoplasma gondii Infection in Domestic Goats in Myanmar

Goat farming is important for the livelihood of millions of rural people because it contributes to food security and creation of assets. However, infection of goats with Toxoplasma gondii could be a source of parasite transmission to humans. The information on T. gondii infection of goat was not reported yet in Myanmar. A total of 119 goat serum samples were collected from three cities in the central region of Myanmar for T. gondii antibody survey. With the occurrence value obtained in this first study, a second one, more complete, with larger number (162) of animals and properties, was carried out and the risk factors and prevalence were determined. In both studies the samples were analyzed by the LAT. Of these, 32 (11.4%) samples were showed to be positive. The infection was associated with the presence of cats at the farm (odds ratio [OR] = 4.66, 95% confidential interval [CI] = 1.03-21.06), farming with different animal species (sheep, cattle, and pigs) (OR = 4.33, 95% CI = 1.57-11.94), and farming without good management practices (OR = 0.23, 95% CI = 0.06-0.83). This is the first T. gondii prevalence study in goats in the country

Molecular Prevalence and Identification of Ehrlichia canis and Anaplasma platys from Dogs in Nay Pyi Taw Area, Myanmar

Ticks are vectors of different types of viruses, protozoans, and other microorganisms, which include Gram-negative prokaryotes of the genera Rickettsiales, Ehrlichia, Anaplasma, and Borrelia. Canine monocytic ehrlichiosis caused by Ehrlichia canis and canine cyclic thrombocytopenia caused by Anaplasma platys are of veterinary importance worldwide. In Myanmar, there is limited information concerning tick-borne pathogens, Ehrlichia and Anaplasma spp., as well as genetic characterization of these species. We performed nested PCR for the gltA gene of the genus Ehrlichia spp. and the 16S rRNA gene of the genus Anaplasma spp. with blood samples from 400 apparently healthy dogs in Nay Pyi Taw area. These amplicon sequences were compared with other sequences from GenBank. Among the 400 blood samples from dogs, 3 (0.75%) were positive for E. canis and 1 (0.25%) was positive for A. platys. The partial sequences of the E. canis gltA and A. platys 16SrRNA genes obtained were highly similar to E. canis and A. platys isolated from different other countries

Serological Survey and Factors Associated with Toxoplasma gondii Infection in Domestic Goats in Myanmar

Goat farming is important for the livelihood of millions of rural people because it contributes to food security and creation of assets. However, infection of goats with Toxoplasma gondii could be a source of parasite transmission to humans. The information on T. gondii infection of goat was not reported yet in Myanmar. A total of 119 goat serum samples were collected from three cities in the central region of Myanmar for T. gondii antibody survey. With the occurrence value obtained in this first study, a second one, more complete, with larger number (162) of animals and properties, was carried out and the risk factors and prevalence were determined. In both studies the samples were analyzed by the LAT. Of these, 32 (11.4%) samples were showed to be positive. The infection was associated with the presence of cats at the farm (odds ratio [OR] = 4.66, 95% confidential interval [CI] = 1.03-21.06), farming with different animal species (sheep, cattle, and pigs) (OR = 4.33, 95% CI = 1.57-11.94), and farming without good management practices (OR = 0.23, 95% CI = 0.06-0.83). This is the first T. gondii prevalence study in goats in the country