Year-Long Presence of Eimeria echidnae and Absence of Eimeria tachyglossi In Captive Short-Beaked Echidnas (Tachyglossus aculeatus)

• Published in: The Journal of parasitology 2012-06, Vol.98 (3), p.543-549
• Main Authors: Debenham, John J, Johnson, Robert, Vogelnest, Larry, Phalen, David N, Whittington, Richard, Šlapeta, Jan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult animals; adults; Analysis of Variance; Animals; Animals, Zoo; Apicomplexa; Biological and medical sciences; Coccidia; Coccidiosis; Coccidiosis - epidemiology; Coccidiosis - parasitology; Coccidiosis - veterinary; Echidna; Echidna - parasitology; Echidnas; Eimeria; Eimeria - classification; Eimeria - physiology; Feces; Feces - parasitology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General aspects; General aspects and techniques. Study of several systematic groups. Models; Host-parasite interactions; host-parasite relationships; Housing, Animal; Infections; Invertebrates; juveniles; LIFE CYCLES-SURVEY; Microscopy; New South Wales - epidemiology; Oocysts; Parasites; Parasitology; Prevalence; Seasons; Species Specificity; Tachyglossidae; Tachyglossus aculeatus; Temperature; Wildlife conservation; Zoos
• ISSN: 0022-3395; 1937-2345
• DOI: 10.1645/GE-2982.1

The short-beaked echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus) is 1 of 5 extant species of monotreme, found only in Australia and Papua New Guinea. The aim of this study was to identify the species of coccidia present and establish a range of subclinical Eimeria spp. (Coccidia: Apicomplexa) oocyst shedding in echidnas from eastern Australia over 18 mo. The coccidia were detected in 89% (49/55) of fecal samples from 12 long-term monitored and healthy captive echidnas, 75% (3/4) of 4 healthy long-term captive echidnas, 83% (5/6) of 6 short-term captive echidnas, and 60% (6/10) of 10 wild echidnas. Echidnas captive for 4 to 23 yr shed 100–46,000 oocysts g−1 of E. echidnae and remained clinically healthy during this study. Sub-adult and adult wild, and short-term captive, echidnas shed oocysts of both E. echidnae and E. tachyglossi. The lack of coccidia in juvenile short-beaked echidnas suggests these animals are probably non-immune and should not be placed in environments heavily contaminated with oocysts. In addition, no oocysts were found in captive long-beaked echidnas (Zaglossus bartoni bartoni, n  =  2) housed at Taronga Zoo. This study represents an important step in understanding the host–parasite interaction between coccidia and short-beaked echidnas.