Trichuris is one of the most important parasitic helminths in public health worldwide, an estimated 800 million people are infected with whipworms, and since it is also reported in non-human primates (NHP) it becomes necessary to distinguish and determine the Trichuris species circulating in human and NHP, and thus, to infer the potential risk of zoonotic transmission involving NHP. This project aims to explore the taxonomy, genetic variation, and evolutionary relationships of Trichuris infecting captive Macaca fuscata living in the zoological garden of Rome Bioparco and wild animals refugia. Starting from adult Trichuris specimens already collected during necropsies of captive M. fuscata, the objectives of this study will be i) to evaluate morphological/morphometric variation in adults Trichuris spp., ii) to characterize Trichuris spp. at molecular level and iii) to estimate genetic diversity, network analyses, and evolutionary relationships of Trichuris spp., in order to infer possible intra and interspecific transmission pathways, and to assess the related zoonotic potential.
The present starting grant proposal is included in an on-going research line on molecular systematics of whipworms carried out by Prof D'Amelio and his team, with particular emphasis on public health concerns related to potential zoonotic risk of specific conditions, as those occurring in captivity where humans (workers and visitors) interact with animals. Several studies in the last decade addressed the morphology [1]-[3] and molecular characterization [4]-[8] of these whipworms as useful tools when taking into account the possible occurrence of hybridization and/ or cross-infections events.
However, the use of an integrative approach by combining molecular data from multiple markers with morphological/morpho-biometric analyses for a much reliable elucidation of Trichuris systematics involving NHP has been suggested [9]; nevertheless, this approach remains largely understudied.
In this context, the present proposal aims to apply the integrative taxonomy approach on Trichuris specimens collected from captive Macaca fuscata living in the zoological garden of Rome, Bioparco, representing a modern and multidisciplinary technique to test if the genetic lineages correspond to different species, and if morphological features can be discriminative. Indeed, this starting grant will be part of a larger PhD project of the principal investigator Silvia Rondón, aimed at the study of parasites infecting primates living in specific environments (the wild intact forest, the fragmented forest with loss of habitat, and the captivity). Those projects are of ecological, medical and veterinary relevance, and in a broader way may contribute to a better conservation of such threaten animals, emphasizing the importance of the One-Health concept.
Additionally, the study has the potential to provide also other interesting outcomes, regarding:
i) The management of animals in captive conditions. Previous data seem to indicate that human activities in zoological gardens may favour the spread of pathogens within and among host species.
ii) The establishment of treatment and/or quarantine programmes for captive NHP.
iii) The transmission of work-related pathologies. It has been suggested that workers within zoological gardens should be trained and monitored for zoonotic infectious diseases.
[1] Aviruppola et al 2016 Ceylon J Sci 45:8
[2] Barbosa et al 2020 Acta Parasitol 65:237¿249
[3] García-Sánchez et al 2019 Int J Parasitol Parasites Wildl 9:218¿223
[4] Doležalová et al 2015 Folia Parasitol 62:063
[5] Hawash et al 2016 Parasites and Vectors 9:1¿11
[6] Cavallero et al 2015 Infect Genet Evol 34:450¿456
[7] Cavallero et al 2019 Vet Parasitol 272:23¿30
[8] Montalbano Di Filippo et al 2020 Parasitol Int 75:102043
[9] Ravasi et al 2012 PLoS One 7:e44187