Parasitos intestinais em Tamanduás-bandeira (Myrmecophaga tridactyla) de vida livre e de cativeiro

Abstract

Wild animals are reservoir hosts of many protozoa that may represent a threat to wildlife conservation programs and, in the case of protozoal diseases of zoonotic character, a risk to human health. Anteaters (Myrmecophagidae) are propense to infecting themselves with intestinal protozoans due to their direct contact with the soil and therefore it’s possible that they present a great variety of these parasites. There are still few studies about the presence of protozoa in the feces of these animals, although there are already reports of Cryptosporidium, Eimeria, Entamoeba, and Giardia. This study determined the presence of intestinal protozoans in five giant anteaters (Myrmecophaga tridactyla) attended in UFU’s wild animal ambulatory. The chosen techniques for the screening were Faust method and Kinyoun stain to identify cysts, trophozoites and oocysts of the observed parasites. Two of the animals were positive to protozoa, one for coccidium and another for Cryptosporidium. Furthermore, parasites of the families Ancylostomatidae, Strongiloididae, Trichuridae and Ascarididae were identified in three of the anteaters. Statistical analysis of the results was not performed.