Fundación Para La Tierra, Centro IDEAL, Pilar, Paraguay.
Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin.
Am J Primatol. 2020 Sep;82(9):e23166. doi: 10.1002/ajp.23166. Epub 2020 Jun 29.
Bertiella sp., a cestode known to infect a variety of hosts, including nonhuman primates and humans, was identified in Paraguay as early as 1895, but no systematic analysis of wild primates' gastrointestinal parasites has ever been carried out in Paraguay. Increased urbanization in southwest Paraguay has pushed the Paraguayan howler monkey (Alouatta caraya) into anthropogenic habitats, particularly in the city of Pilar (Ñeembucú department), giving rise to greater potential for zoonotic transmission between wild primates and humans. From July to December 2018, fecal samples were noninvasively collected from 48 howlers inside Pilar (urban environment), the Pilar Military Base (intermediate environment), and a ranch 27 km outside Pilar in the humid Chaco (natural environment) and analyzed for Bertiella eggs and proglottids using macro-analysis and formol-ether sedimentation. Howlers living in the urban environment had the highest rates of Bertiella infection (50% prevalence), with considerably lower infection rates in the intermediate environment (6.25% prevalence) and natural habitats (0% prevalence). A χ goodness-of-fit test indicated a significant difference between the three habitat types (p = .007, χ = 10.005, df = 2). While the habitat seems to impact the frequency of infection, Bertiella was not observed to select for other factors such as age or sex of the primate host. Here we identified a significant increase in the frequency of Bertiella infection in an urban environment, which can then be further transmitted to new hosts with more direct primate contact. Bertiella infection has already been documented in humans in Paraguay, all of which were associated with close primate contact. As howlers move into more urban habitats due to urbanization and habitat fragmentation, Bertiella could be introduced into this new ecosystem and has the potential to cause further infections in humans.
伯氏贝蛔虫（Bertiella sp.）是一种已知可感染多种宿主的绦虫，包括非人类灵长类动物和人类。早在 1895 年，就已在巴拉圭发现了伯氏贝蛔虫，但从未对巴拉圭的野生灵长类动物的胃肠道寄生虫进行过系统分析。巴拉圭西南部的城市化进程推动了巴拉圭吼猴（Alouatta caraya）进入人为栖息地，特别是在皮拉尔市（Ñeembucú 省），这增加了野生灵长类动物和人类之间发生人畜共患传播的可能性。2018 年 7 月至 12 月，从皮拉尔市（城市环境）、皮拉尔军事基地（中间环境）以及皮拉尔市外 27 公里的潮湿查科地区的一个牧场，采集了 48 只吼猴的非侵入性粪便样本，并使用宏观分析和福尔马林-乙醚沉淀法对伯氏贝蛔虫卵和节片进行了分析。生活在城市环境中的吼猴的伯氏贝蛔虫感染率最高（50%的患病率），中间环境（6.25%的患病率）和自然栖息地（0%的患病率）的感染率则较低。卡方拟合优度检验表明，三种生境类型之间存在显著差异（p =.007，χ 2 = 10.005，df = 2）。虽然栖息地似乎会影响感染频率，但伯氏贝蛔虫似乎不会选择宿主灵长类动物的年龄或性别等其他因素。在这里，我们发现城市环境中的伯氏贝蛔虫感染频率显著增加，然后可以通过与灵长类动物更直接的接触传播给新的宿主。在巴拉圭，已经有人类感染伯氏贝蛔虫的记录，所有这些都与密切的灵长类动物接触有关。由于吼猴由于城市化和生境破碎化而进入更多的城市栖息地，伯氏贝蛔虫可能会被引入这个新的生态系统，并有可能在人类中引起进一步的感染。
