Journal article
First detection and genetic characterisation of Enterocytozoon bieneusi in wild deer in Melbourne's water catchments in Australia
Y Zhang, AV Koehler, T Wang, SR Haydon, RB Gasser
Parasites and Vectors | BMC | Published : 2018
Abstract
Background: Enterocytozoon bieneusi is reported to be a common microsporidian of humans and animals in various countries. However, E. bieneusi has yet to be recorded in animals in Australia. Here, we undertook the first molecular epidemiological investigation of E. bieneusi in three species of deer (Cervus elaphus, Dama dama and Rusa unicolor) that live in the catchment areas that supply the city of Melbourne with drinking water. Methods: Genomic DNA was extracted from a total of 610 individual faecal samples from wild deer, including sambar deer (Rusa unicolor) (n = 516), red deer (Cervus elaphus) (n = 77) and fallow deer (Dama dama) (n = 17) from nine catchment areas, and then tested using..
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Awarded by Australian Research Council
Funding Acknowledgements
Research funding from the Melbourne Water Corporation and Australian Research Council (grant number LP160101299) (RBG and AVK) is gratefully acknowledged. Yan Zhang was the recipient of scholarships from the Chinese Scholarship Council (CSC) and The University of Melbourne.