Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-p2v8j Total loading time: 0.001 Render date: 2024-05-22T04:54:09.250Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Intestinal parasites in Przewalski's horses (Equus ferus przewalskii): a field survey at the Hortobágy National Park, Hungary

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 August 2021

C. Jota Baptista Open the ORCID record for C. Jota Baptista [Opens in a new window] ,
E. Sós ,
T. Szabados ,
V. Kerekes  and
L. Madeira de Carvalho Open the ORCID record for L. Madeira de Carvalho [Opens in a new window]
C. Jota Baptista*
Affiliation:
CIISA – Centro de Investigação Interdisciplinar em Sanidade Animal, Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária, Universidade de Lisboa, Avenida da Universidade Técnica, 1300-477Lisbon, Portugal
E. Sós
Affiliation:
Budapest Zoo and Botanical Garden, Állatkerti krt. 6-12, 1146, Budapest, Hungary
T. Szabados
Affiliation:
Pentezug Wild Horse Reserve, Hortobágy National Park, Hungary
V. Kerekes
Affiliation:
Pentezug Wild Horse Reserve, Hortobágy National Park, Hungary
L. Madeira de Carvalho
Affiliation:
CIISA – Centro de Investigação Interdisciplinar em Sanidade Animal, Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária, Universidade de Lisboa, Avenida da Universidade Técnica, 1300-477Lisbon, Portugal
*
Author for correspondence: C. Jota Baptista, E-mail: catabap@hotmail.com
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The Pentezug Wildhorse Reserve, located in the Hortobágy National Park, Hungary, has one of the biggest ex situ populations of Przewalski's horses and aims to preserve its landscape and to study this subspecies. Between September and November 2018, 79 faecal samples were collected from Przewalski's horses. The McMaster, Willis flotation, natural sedimentation and coproculture methods were applied to all the samples. Results showed an average level of 1287 eggs per gram (EPG), which is a high faecal egg-shedding level. All the samples were positive for strongyle-type eggs (100%). There were no statistical differences regarding the EPG values between different harems of the population. The same happened when considering sexes, ages, lactating status or when bachelors are compared with harem members. Cyathostominae were dominant, when compared to Strongylinae and Tricostrongylidae, and 15 different morphological infective third-stage larvae types and/or species belonging to the order Strongylida were identified. The subfamily Cyathostominae was prevalent in 100% of the horses. Strongylus vulgaris was the most prevalent strongylin (40.5%). Additionally, 27.8% were positive for Parascaris sp. and 2.5% showed Oxyuris equi in their faeces. This study revealed that there is a higher prevalence of Triodontophorus serratus and Poteriostomum spp. in juveniles. Horses with S. vulgaris showed lower levels of EPG. This was the first study involving this population, showing 100% prevalence of intestinal parasites.

Keywords

Przewalski's horsesintestinal parasitesCyathostominaeStrongylus vulgarisHortobágy
Type
Research Paper
Information
Journal of Helminthology , Volume 95 , 2021 , e39
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abbott, ML (2011) Understanding Educational Statistics Using Microsoft Excel and SPSS. Hoboken, New Jersey, Wiley.Google Scholar
Boyd, LE (1988) Time budgets of adult Przewalski horses: effects of sex, reproductive status and enclosure. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 21, 19–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brabender, K, Zimmermann, W and Hampson, B (2016) Seasonal changes in body condition of Przewalski's horses in a seminatural habitat. Journal of Equine Veterinary Science 42, 73–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bucknell, DG, Gasser, RB and Beveridge, I (1995) The prevalence and epidemiology of gastrointestinal parasites of horses in Victoria, Australia. International Journal for Parasitology 25, 711–724.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bucknell, D, Hoste, H, Gasser, RB and Beveridge, I (1996) The structure of the community of strongyloid nematodes of domestic equids. Journal of Helminthology 70, 185–192.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bush, AO, Lafferty, KD, Lotz, JM and Shostak, AW (1997) Parasitology meets ecology on its own terms: Margolis et al. revisited. Journal of Parasitology 83, 575–583.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carstensen, H, Larsen, L, Ritz, C and Nielsen, M (2013) Daily variability of strongyle fecal egg counts in horses. Journal of Equine Veterinary Science 33(3), 161–164.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cézilly, F, Perrot-Minnot, MJ and Rigaud, T (2014) Cooperation and conflict in host manipulation: interactions among macro-parasites and micro-organisms. Frontiers in Microbiology 5, 1.Google ScholarPubMed
Debeffe, L, McLoughlin, PD, Medill, SA, et al. (2016) Negative covariance between parasite load and body condition in a population of feral horses. Parasitology 143, 983–997.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Duncan, P (1992) Horses and grasses: the nutritional ecology of equids and their impact on the Camargue. New York, Springer-Verlag.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elias, F, Sterregaard, F, Baumgartner, R, Walzer, C, Slotta-Bachmayr, L, Ganbataar, O, Bajalagmaa, N, Isenbügel, E and Deplazes, P (2002) Parasitologic examinations in reintroduced Przewalski horses (Equus c. przewalskii) compared to Mongolian domestic horses (E. caballus) and Dschiggetais (E. h. hemionus) in the Dzungarian Gobi, Mongolia. Pro. EAZWV & EWDA May 8-12. Heidelberg, Germany, pp. 233–240.Google Scholar
Habig, B and Archie, EA (2015) Social status, immune response and parasitism in males: a meta-analysis. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society 370(1669).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jota Baptista, C, Sós, E and Madeira de Carvalho, L (2021) Gastrointestinal parasitism in Przewalski horses (Equus ferus przewalskii). Acta Parasitologica.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keiper, R and Receveur, H (1992) Social interactions of free-ranging Przewalski's horses in semi-reserves in the Netherlands. Applied Animal Behaviour and Science 33, 303–318.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kerekes, V, Ozogány, K, Sándor, I, Vegvari, Z, Czető, C, Nyírő, B, Szabados, T, Széles, L and Barta, Z (2019) Analysis of habitat use, activity, and body condition scores of Przewalski's horses in Hortobagy National Park, Hungary. Nature Conservation Research 4, 31–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
King, SRB, Boyd, L, Zimmermann, W and Kendall, BE (2017) Equus ferus – Przewalski's horse. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 8235, 1–9.Google Scholar
Kuzmina, T, Zvegintsova, N and Zharkikh, T (2009) Strongylid community structure of the Przewalski's horses (Equus ferus przewalskii) from the biosphere reserve “Askania-Nova”, Ukraine. Vestnik Zoologii 43, 5–11.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kuzmina, TA, Dzeverin, I and Kharchenko, VA (2016) Strongylids in domestic horses: influence of horse age, breed and deworming programs on the strongyle parasite community. Veterinary Parasitology 227, 56–63.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kuzmina, TA, Zvegintsova, NS and Zharkikh, TL (2017) Gastrointestinal parasite community in a new population of the Przewalski's horse (Equus ferus przewalskii) in the Orenburg State Reserve, Russia. Vestnik Zoologii 51, 243–250.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leathwick, DM, Sauermann, CW, Donecker, JM and Nielsen, MK (2016) A model for the development and growth of the parasitic stages of Parascaris spp. in the horse. Veterinary Parasitology 228, 108–115.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lichtenfels, JR, Kharchenko, VA and Dvojnos, GM (2008) Illustrated identification keys to strongylid parasites (strongylidae: Nematoda) of horses, zebras and asses (Equidae). Veterinary Parasitology 156, 4–161.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liu, SH, Li, K and Hu, DF (2016) The incidence and species composition of gasterophilus (Diptera, Gasterophilidae) causing equine myiasis in northern Xinjiang, China. Veterinary Parasitology 217, 36–38.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Liu, SH, Hu, DF and Li, K (2018) Parasites observed in the proximal alimentary tract of a Przewalski's horse in China. Equine Veterinary Education 30(1), 20–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lopes, AS, Nunes, T, Sousa, S, Fabrica, P and Braz, BS (2020) Distribution, major epidemiological features and control of equid gastrointestinal parasites in mainland Portugal. 1, pp. 1–26 in Freitas Duarte, A and Lopes da Costa, L (Eds) Advances in animal health, medicine and production. Cham, Springer.Google Scholar
Madeira de Carvalho, L (2001) Epidemiology and control of strongylosis in different horse production systems in Portugal. PhD thesis, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Technical University of Lisbon.Google Scholar
Madeira de Carvalho, LM (2008) Os equídeos em Portugal: De animais de produção a animais de companhia. II – implicações no controlo de parasitoses gastrointestinais. Medicina Veterinária AEFMV 63, 4–20.Google Scholar
Madeira De Carvalho, LM (2014) Estrongilidose Dos Equídeos Biologia, Patologia, Epidemiologia E Controlo. In Memoriam Prof. Ignacio Navarrete López-Cózar (ed. D., R. and J., T.), p. Universidad de Extremadura, Facultad de Veterinaria, Cáceres, España.Google Scholar
Madeira de Carvalho, LM, Fazendeiro, MI and Afonso-Roque, MM (2004) Morphometric study of the infective larval stages (L3) of horse strongyles (Nematoda: Strongylidae) – 1. Genus Cyathostomum s.l. Acta Parasitologica Portuguesa 11, 23–32.Google Scholar
Madeira de Carvalho, LM, Fazendeiro, MI and Afonso-Roque, MM (2007) Morphometric study of the infective larval stages (L3) of horse strongyles (Nematoda: Strongylidae) – 2. Genera Gyalocephalus, Poteriostomum, Craterostomum, Oesophagodontus, Triodontophorus, Strongylus and Trichostrongylus. Acta Parasitologica Portuguesa 14, 23–34.Google Scholar
Madeira de Carvalho, LM, Fazendeiro, MI and Afonso-Roque, MM (2008) Morphometric study of the infective larval stages (L3) of horse strongyles (Nematoda: Strongylidae). 3. Conclusions, future prospects and proposal of an identification key for some common horse gastrointestinal nematodes in Portugal. Acta Parasitológica Portuguesa 15, 59–65.Google Scholar
Madeira de Carvalho, LM, Sousa, S, Cernea, M, Cernea, LC, Arias, M and Paz-Silva, A (2014) Strongyles shed in faeces as a means of monitoring the parasite scenario in horse stud farms. Horses: Breeding, Health Disorders and Effects on Performance and Behavior, 93–126.Google Scholar
Nielsen, MK and Reinemeyer, CR (2018) Handbook of equine parasite control. 2nd edn. Hoboken, NJ, Wiley Blackwell.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Painer, J, Kaczensky, P, Ganbaatar, O, Huber, K and Walzer, C (2011) Comparative parasitological examination on sympatric equids in the Great Gobi “B” strictly protected area, Mongolia. European Journal of Wildlife Research 57, 225–232.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Poulin, R (2001) Interactions between species and the structure of helminth communities. Parasitology 122, S3–S11.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rubenstein, DI and Hohmann, ME (1989) Parasites and social behavior of island feral horses. Oikos 55, 312–320.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sallé, G, Kornaś, S and Basiaga, M (2018) Equine strongyle communities are constrained by horse sex and species dispersal-fecundity trade-off. Parasites and Vectors 11, 279.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Santos, DW, Madeira de Carvalho, LM and Molento, MB (2018) Identification of third stage larval types of cyathostomins of equids: an improved perspective. Veterinary Parasitology 260, 49–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sharkhuu, G, Ulanbayar, O, Sh, T, Sunjidmaa, D, Nyamosor, P, Dolgorsuren, B and Tungalag, T (2000) Report on the study of helminth infections of Przewalski horses (Tachi) in Hustai (1994-2000). Ulaanbaatar, Mongolian Agriculture University.Google Scholar
Slivinska, K, Dvojnos, G and Kopij, G (2006) Helminth fauna of sympatric Przewalski's Equus przewalskii Poljakov, 1881 and domestic horses E. Caballus L. in the Chernobyl exclusion zone, Ukraine. Helminthologia 43, 27–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Slivinska, K, Kharchenko, V, Wróblewski, Z, Gawor, J and Kuzmina, T (2016) Parasitological survey of Polish primitive horses (Equus caballus gmelini Ant.): influence of age, sex and management strategies on the parasite community. Helminthologia (Poland) 53, 233–242.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Soulsby, E (1986) Helminths, arthropods and protozoa of domesticated animals. 4th edn. London, Bailliére Tindall.Google Scholar
Stancampiano, L, Mughini Gras, L and Poglayen, G (2010) Spatial niche competition among helminth parasites in horse's large intestine. Veterinary Parasitology 170, 88–95.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zimmermann, W, Brabender, K and Kolter, L (2009) A Przewalski's horse population in a unique European steppe reserve – the Hortobágy National Park in Hungary. pp. 257–284 in EQUUS, Zoo Praha, Prague, Czech Republic.Google Scholar
Zvegintsova, NS, Zharkikh, TL and Kuzmina, Т (2019) Parasites of Przewalski's horses (Equus ferus przewalskii) in Askania Nova Biosphere Reserve (Ukraine) and Orenburg State Nature Reserve (Russia). Nature Conservation Research 4, 83–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar