Cryptosporidium infection in captive wild animals at Sanda Kyarimi Zoo in Maiduguri, Nigeria

Abstract

Wild mammals are essential food sources for man and animal predators. Cryptosporidium species have a broad host range, including  wildlife, which serve as crucial disease reservoirs for domestic animals and humans with a potential public health concern. The scarcity of  information on the incidence of cryptosporidiosis among wild animals in North-eastern Nigeria necessitated the present study, which investigated the occurrence of Cryptosporidium oocysts among captive wild mammals in Maiduguri. Faecal samples collected from  Artiodactyla/Proboscidae (n=9), Carnivores (n=7), Primates (n=9), Reptilia (n=4), and Rodentia (n=2) were examined using the  ZiehlNeelsen staining technique to detect Cryptosporidium oocyst. Of the 31 captive mammals examined, 17 (54.8%), 14 (45.2%), 9  (29.0%) and 22 (71.0%) were respectively classified as males, females, young and adults. A total of 12 (38.7%; 95% CI: 23.7, 56.2) out of the  31 examined samples were positive, with a higher prevalence of 57.1% (95% CI: 25.0, 84.2) observed among carnivores compared to the  other animals. There was no statistical association (p > 0.05) between the occurrence of Cryptosporidium oocysts and sex as well as the  age of the individual mammal species examined. This paper underscores the role of anthroponotic and zoonotic transmission at the  human-wildlife interface in zoological gardens (Zoo) and parks worldwide.