Prevalence of cryptococcal antigenemia and nasal colonization in a free-ranging koala population
| Autor: | Alex Kan, Laura J Schmertmann, Valentina S. A. Mella, Wieland Meyer, Richard Malik, Mark B. Krockenberger, George Madani, Cristina M. Fernandez, Mathew S. Crowther |
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| Rok vydání: | 2019 |
| Předmět: |
Male
Veterinary medicine Cryptococcus Phascolarctos cinereus subclinical cryptococcosis Liverpool Plains animal sentinel Antigens Fungal Population Cryptococcus Animals Wild Nose Phascolarctos cinereus biology.animal parasitic diseases Prevalence medicine Animals Colonization education Asymptomatic Infections Cryptococcus gattii Ecosystem Cryptococcus neoformans Eucalyptus education.field_of_study biology 0707 Veterinary Sciences Australia Cryptococcosis General Medicine medicine.disease biology.organism_classification Infectious Diseases Eucalyptus camaldulensis Female Phascolarctidae |
| Zdroj: | Medical Mycology |
| ISSN: | 1460-2709 1369-3786 |
| Popis: | Cryptococcosis, caused by environmental fungi in the Cryptococcus neoformans and Cryptococcus gattii species complexes, affects a variety of hosts, including koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus). Cryptococcal antigenemia and nasal colonization are well characterized in captive koalas, but free-ranging populations have not been studied systematically. Free-ranging koalas (181) from the Liverpool Plains region of New South Wales, Australia, were tested for cryptococcal antigenemia (lateral flow immunoassay) and nasal colonization (bird seed agar culture). Results were related to environmental and individual koala characteristics. Eucalypt trees (14) were also randomly tested for the presence of Cryptococcus spp. by bird seed agar culture. In sum, 5.5% (10/181) and 6.6% (12/181) of koalas were positive for antigenemia and nasal colonization, respectively, on at least one occasion. And 64.3% (9/14) of eucalypts were culture-positive for Cryptococcus spp. URA5 restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis identified most isolates as C. gattii VGI, while C. neoformans VNI was only found in one koala and one tree. Colonized koalas were significantly more likely to test positive for antigenemia. No associations between antigenemia or colonization, and external environmental characteristics (the relative abundance of Eucalyptus camaldulensis and season), or individual koala characteristics (body condition, sex, and age), could be established, suggesting that antigenemia and colonization are random outcomes of host-pathogen-environment interactions. The relationship between positive antigenemia status and a relatively high abundance of E. camaldulensis requires further investigation. This study characterizes cryptococcosis in a free-ranging koala population, expands the ecological niche of the C. gattii/C. neoformans species complexes and highlights free-ranging koalas as important sentinels for this disease. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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