MEDICAL-SURGICAL MANAGEMENT OF INTESTINAL INFECTION BY PROSTHENORCHIS ELEGANS IN NONHUMAN PRIMATES FROM COSTA RICA

Parasitism is one of the most important diseases in nonhuman primates (NHP). Parasitism by Prosthenorchis elegans can be a threat to health and conservation of NHP in Costa Rica. Surgical management of intestinal acanthocephalan infection in two squirrel monkeys (Saimiri oerstedii) and one white-faced monkey (Cebus imitator) is described as an alternative to the lack of pharmacologic control options when there is a high burden of parasites present. A complete physical evaluation, including medical ultrasound techniques, allow for diagnosis of the parasite and its lesions. When animals present with a high burden of parasites, surgical management has shown to promote good health outcomes and increase the probability of survival.

Prevalence Estimation, Antimicrobial Susceptibility, and Serotyping of Salmonella enterica Recovered from New World Non-Human Primates (Platyrrhini), Feed, and Environmental Surfaces from Wildlife Centers in Costa Rica

Concern about zoonoses and wildlife has increased. Few studies described the role of wild mammals and environments in the epidemiology of Salmonella. Antimicrobial resistance is a growing problem associated with Salmonella that threatens global health, food security, the economy, and development in the 21st century. The aim of this study is to estimate the prevalence and identify antibiotic susceptibility profiles and serotypes of non-typhoidal Salmonella enterica recovered from non-human primate feces, feed offered, and surfaces in wildlife centers in Costa Rica. A total of 180 fecal samples, 133 environmental, and 43 feed samples from 10 wildlife centers were evaluated. We recovered Salmonella from 13.9% of feces samples, 11.3% of environmental, and 2.3% of feed samples. Non-susceptibility profiles included six isolates from feces (14.6%): four non-susceptible isolates (9.8%) to ciprofloxacin, one (2.4%) to nitrofurantoin, and one to both ciprofloxacin and nitrofurantoin (2.4%). Regarding the environmental samples, one profile was non-susceptible to ciprofloxacin (2.4%) and two to nitrofurantoin (4.8%). The serotypes identified included Typhimurium/I4,[5],12:i:-, S. Braenderup/Ohio, S. Newport, S. Anatum/Saintpaul, and S. Westhampton. The epidemiological surveillance of Salmonella and antimicrobial resistance can serve in the creation of strategies for the prevention of the disease and its dissemination throughout the One Health approach.

Cryptic diversity in a gastrointestinal acanthocephalan of New World primates from Costa Rica

Prosthenorchis elegans is a worm of the family Archiacanthocephala that infects non-human primates in the Americas, producing an intestinal pathology that may compromise the life of its hosts. Squirrel monkeys, Saimiri oerstedii citrinellus, were found with P. elegans in Costa Rica. Histopathological analysis revealed a severe pyogranulomatous response composed by macrophages, neutrophils, eosinophils, fibroblasts and lymphocytes. Morphological worm analyses revealed 36 hooks in the proboscis distributed in six rows; and total body, hook and lemnisci length were compatible to the original descriptions of P. elegans. In addition, phylogenetic, haplotype network and genetic distance analyses were done on cytochrome oxidase subunit 1, cox1, sequences obtained from the collected specimens. Sequences obtained herein clustered separately with high posterior probabilities in a Bayesian Inference tree and showed 8.12% nucleotide differences when compared to P. elegans from Colombia. This high divergence was confirmed in the TCS network that separated Colombian and Costa Rican sequences by 32 mutational steps, a genetic distance PCA which separated sequences from both geographical locations by 89.5% and an F_ST value of 0.655, indicating the presence of cryptic diversity in P. elegans. Additional studies from specimens collected from other definitive hosts and geographical locations are required to better understand the biodiversity of this species.