Isospora sp from ducks. Infectivity for the , four anatids and the domestic Cm Chauve, Mc Reynaud, Jm Gounel

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Cm Chauve, Mc Reynaud, Jm Gounel. Isospora sp from ducks. Infectivity for the goose, four anatids and the domestic fowl. Veterinary Research, BioMed Central, 1993, 24 (5), pp.430-433. ￿hal-00902158￿

HAL Id: hal-00902158 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00902158 Submitted on 1 Jan 1993

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Isospora sp from ducks. Infectivity for the goose, four anatids and the domestic fowl

CM Chauve MC Reynaud JM Gounel

1 Laboratoire de Parasitologie, École Vétérinaire de Lyon, BP 83; 2 Département de Pathologie Animale, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Laboratoire de Parasitologie, École Vétérinaire de Lyon, BP 31, 69280 Marcy-/’Étoile, France

(Received 30 April 1993; accepted 22 June 1993)

Summary ― A coccidium was isolated from mule duck farms, the sporulated oocysts of which most closely resemble that of Isospora anseris, a goose coccidium. By experimental infection, these oo- cysts were proved to be able to develop in the goose and in several duck species, but unable to de- velop in the . No pathogenicity was noted in any species.

coccidium I lsospora sp I duck I goose

Résumé ― lsospora sp chez le canard. Étude de la réceptivité de l’oie, de 4 Anatidés et de la poule. Une coccidie isolée dans des élevages de canards mulards a produit des oocystes sporulés semblables à ceux dlsospora anseris, une coccidie de l’oie. Il a été montré par infection expérimen- tale que ces oocystes étaient capables de se développer chez l’oie et chez plusieurs espèces de ca- nards mais pas chez le poulet. Aucun pouvoir pathogène n â été décelé. coccidie / Isospora sp l canard l oie

INTRODUCTION other, Isospora sp, closely resembled the description of Isospora anseris (Skene et al, 1981 ). In this study, we have conduct- Coprological surveys carried out on duck ed cross-transmission trials to determine farms have revealed 2 of coccidia species whether Isospora sp is infective for mal- of the genus Isospora (Chauve et al, lard, Pekin duck, muscovy duck, mule 1992). One was identified as Isospora duck (a cross between a muscovy duck mandari, previously reported in the man- (male) and a Pekin duck (female)), do- darin duck (Bhatia et al, 1972) and the mestic goose and chicken. MATERIALS AND METHODS glass beads. The centrifuge tubes were placed on a Whirlimix and the contents agitated until the oocysts and some sporocysts had been Experimental shattered (Shirley, 1975).

Twenty mallard ducklings (Anas platyrhynchos Experimental design platyrhynchos), 20 Pekin ducklings (Anas platy- rhynchos domesticus), 20 muscovy ducklings (Cairina moschata), 20 mule ducklings, 20 dom- For the cross-transmission experiments, 15 estic goslings ( anser domesticus) and 20 birds of each species (mallards, Pekin ducks, (Gallus domesticus) were obtained at muscovy ducks, mule ducks, domestic geese 1 d of age. All birds were provided with a non- and chickens) were each dosed with 3.0 x 105 medicated complete pelleted ration and water sporulated oocysts introduced into the crop by ad libitum. Food consumption was noted. They means of a flexible graduated pipette. The 5 re- were raised free of coccidia as determined by maining birds of each group served as uninocu- faecal flotation in a mercuric and potassium io- lated controls. The faeces of each infected dide solution (Hgl2: 150 g; KI: 110 g; H20: 300 group were collected twice daily from d 1 pi to d g). When used in the experiments, the birds 8 pi and examined by flotation for the presence were 11 d old. For each species of birds, a of unsporulated oocysts. The oocyst production batch of 15 infected birds was maintained in a was quantified from d 1 pi to d 8 pi: oocysts of stainless steel metabolic cage equipped with a 5 g faeces samples were counted. The uninfect- collecting tray so that all faeces of the batch ed groups were examined twice during the ex- could be accumulated during periods of 24 h, for periment: on d 4 and 8 pi. 8 d post-infection (pi) ; a batch of 5 uninfected birds was maintained in a similar cage. RESULTS Oocysts Sporulation The original oocysts of Isospora sp used as in- oculum were recovered from faecal samples col- lected from a mule duck farm in the Rh6ne- At 20 ± 2°C, in a 1 % potassium dichromate Alpes region (France). The faeces were washed solution, sporulation could be completed in through a 50-pm sieve. After 3 h of sedimenta- 36 h. With concentrations of oocysts < 2 tion, the supernatant was poured off and the sediment centrifuged (1 300 g). The sediment was resuspended in a MgS04 solution (25%) then washed in tap-water. After treatment with sodium hypochlorite (1,2° Cl) for 20 min, the un- sporulated oocysts were washed twice in tap- water. Potassium dichromate was added to make up a 1% solution. The samples were then placed in large flasks on a shaking apparatus at = 20°C for sporulation. Oocysts were examined for evidence of sporulation twice a day by flota- tion of an aliquot in a mercuric and potassium io- dide solution. The sporulated oocysts (fig 1 ) have been described previously (Chauve et al, 1992). Their dimensions were 10.9 pm x 10.0 pm. In order to measure sporocysts and sporo- zoites, a suspension of sporulated oocysts was added to a 0.1-1-cm layer of 0.5-mm diameter millions per ml, the sporulation averaged fected birds. For each species (mallards, 80% within 5 d. Pekin ducks, muscovy ducks, mule ducks, domestic geese and chickens), the food consumption was similar in infected and Measurement of sporocysts uninoculated birds. and sporozoites

The sporocysts measured 8.4-10.1 by DISCUSSION 5.9-6.8 pm. The sporocyst residuum con- sisted of scat- heterogeneous granules The coccidium of the present study was tered the The throughout sporocyst. sporo- isolated from a mule-duck farm: this spe- zoites measured 6.1 2.0 by pm. cies was described for the first time in ducks (Chauve et al, 1992). The oocysts most closely resemble those of Isospora Host specificity anseris described by Skene et al (1981) from Canada geese. In their description, Faecal samples of all uninfected animals the prepatent period was 5 d, while it was collected at d 4 and 8 pi were negative for 1 d shorter in our experiment. Faecal of infected ani- oocysts. samples As sporulated oocysts were able to in- mals were collected from d 1-8 and daily pi fect geese, the coccidium of our study and those of all con- birds, except chickens, Isospora anseris could be the same spe- tained oocysts from d 4-8 pi inclusive, cies. We tried to demonstrate cross- when the was terminated experiment (table infection between geese, ducks and chick- In all the was 4 d. I). birds, prepatent period ens. We were unable to infect the chicken with the duck strain. On the contrary, mal- lard, Pekin duck, muscovy duck and mule Pathogenicity duck were found to be passing Isospora sp oocysts. It is not very surprising that this No death occurred during the experiment. coccidium is capable of replicating in differ- No anorexia was recorded in any of the in- ent anatids because Isospora spp are not as restricted in host specificity as Eimeria ACKNOWLEDGMENTS spp. From the different receptive birds, oocysts were first recovered from the faec- The authors wish to thank D Quoc-Cuong for his es at d 4 and eliminated from d 4-8 pi pi technical assistance in housing and feeding the when the was termi- inclusive, experiment birds. This project was supported by a grant nated. At d 4 pi, geese eliminated more from the Institut National de Recherche Agrono- oocysts than ducks but we failed to deter- mique (INRA), France. mine any difference between geese and ducks at d 8 pi. This survey showed that Isospora sp can parasitize geese and REFERENCES ducks. Former studies have reported other coccidial species occurring in both ducks Bhatia BB, Chauhan PPS, Arora GS, Agrawal and geese: Eimeria danailovi, a duck RD (1972) Observations on some coccidian coccidium, was experimentally transmitted infections in birds and a mammal at the Delhi to the domestic goose (Grafner et al, zoo. Indian J Anim Sci 42, 625-628 1965). This example is an uncommon re- Chauve CM, Reynaud MC, Gounel JM (1992) Isolement de deux coccidies du Iso- port of a lack of specificity of an Eimeria genre chez des canards en France. Ann If our indicates that spora species. study Isospo- Rech Vet23,395-398 ra sp can be found on duck farms, it also Grafner G, Graubmann HD, Betke P (1965) indicates that this coccidium can de- easily Dunndarm Kokzidiose bei Hausenten verur- in velop different species of ducks and sacht durch eine neue Kokzidienart, Eimeria geese. danailovi n sp. Monatsh Veterinaermed 20, 141-143 Further investigations are necessary to determine whether there are any differen- Shirley MW (1975) Enzyme variation in Eimeria of the chicken. 369- ces between the from ducks and species Parasitology 71 , species 376 the species from geese: cross-immunity Skene Remmler Fernando MA tests and examination of the RC, 0, (1981) electrophoret- Coccidia of Canada Canaden- of geese (Branta ic mobility parasite enzymes could be sis) at Kortright Waterfowl Park, Guelph, On- very useful for the characterisation of the 2 tario, Canada, with a description of lsospora species. anseris n sp. Can J Zool 59, 493-497