Prevalence of intestinal parasites with molecular detection and identification of in fecal samples of mammals, birds and zookeepers at Beni-Suef Zoo, Egypt.

Unlabelled: The current study aimed to investigate the prevalence of intestinal parasites from various species of mammals and birds housed in a zoological garden in Beni-Suef province, Egypt. A total of 77 fecal samples were collected from various primates (16), carnivores (7) and herbivores (54). Meanwhile, 123 fecal samples were collected from two Ostrichs (), five Numida meleagris (), twoIndian Peafowls (), two Emu () 101 Pigeons () and 11 Swan Goose (). In addition, seven stool samples from zookeepers who had been in close contact with animals and birds were examined. Salt flotation and formol ether sedimentation techniques were applied for parasitological examination. Positive samples of cysts were preserved in alcohol and kept at 4 °C until DNA extraction. Parasitological findings revealed that 48.05% of zoo animals were infected with intestinal parasites; 11.69% were positive with helminths and 27.27% with protozoa, however 9.09% had mixed infection. It was found that 75%, 57.14% and 38.89% of primates, carnivores and herbivores respectively were infected with intestinal parasites. In Primates the most prevalent parasites were spp. (43.75%) then / (12.5%), (12.5%) and spp. (6.25%). For carnivores, Ancylostomatidae had the highest prevalence (42.86%) followed by spp. (14.29%). Meanwhile, spp. (20.37%) was the most prevalent parasite in herbivores, followed by (7.41%) and spp. (7.41%), then spp. (3.70%). Furthermore, the prevalence of infection in zoo birds was 21.95%. The identified parasites were spp., spp., spp., spp., spp. and . Stool examination of zookeepers revealed the presence of and / cysts. The gdh gene of was successfully amplified from fecal samples of zoo mammalsand zookeepers. In conclusion, the application of preventive and control measures against the propagation of infectious intestinal parasites is essential to prevent the spread of these parasites among zoo animals or to humans.

Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12639-020-01341-2.