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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, July 2006, p. 4540-4544, Vol. 72, No. 7
0099-2240/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.02503-05
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Microsporidian Species Known To Infect Humans Are Present in Aquatic Birds: Implications for Transmission via Water?

Anna Slodkowicz-Kowalska,¹ Thaddeus K. Graczyk,^2,3* Leena Tamang,² Szymon Jedrzejewski,¹ Andrzej Nowosad,⁴ Piotr Zduniak,⁵ Piotr Solarczyk,¹ Autumn S. Girouard,³ and Anna C. Majewska¹

Department of Biology and Medical Parasitology, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Fredry Street, Poznan, Poland,¹ Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Division of Environmental Health Engineering, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N. Wolfe Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21205,² Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N. Wolfe Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21205,³ Department of Systematic Zoology, Adam Mickiewicz University, 10 Fredry Street, Poznan, Poland,⁴ Department of Avian Biology and Ecology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Collegium Biologicum, 89 Umultowska Street, Poznan, Poland⁵

Received 24 October 2005/ Accepted 18 April 2006

Human microsporidiosis, a serious disease of immunocompetent and immunosuppressed people, can be due to zoonotic and environmental transmission of microsporidian spores. A survey utilizing conventional and molecular techniques for examining feces from 570 free-ranging, captive, and livestock birds demonstrated that 21 animals shed microsporidian spores of species known to infect humans, including Encephalitozoon hellem (20 birds; 3.5%) and Encephalitozoon intestinalis (1 bird; 0.2%). Of 11 avian species that shed E. hellem and E. intestinalis, 8 were aquatic birds (i.e., common waterfowl). The prevalence of microsporidian infections in waterfowl (8.6%) was significantly higher than the prevalence of microsporidian infections in other birds (1.1%) (P < 0.03); waterfowl fecal droppings contained significantly more spores (mean, 3.6 x 10⁵ spores/g) than nonaquatic bird droppings contained (mean, 4.4 x 10⁴ spores/g) (P < 0.003); and the presence of microsporidian spores of species known to infect humans in fecal samples was statistically associated with the aquatic status of the avian host (P < 0.001). We demonstrated that a single visit of a waterfowl flock can introduce into the surface water approximately 9.1 x 10⁸ microsporidian spores of species known to infect humans. Our findings demonstrate that waterborne microsporidian spores of species that infect people can originate from common waterfowl, which usually occur in large numbers and have unlimited access to surface waters, including waters used for production of drinking water.

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* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Division of Environmental Health Engineering, 615 N. Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205. Phone: (410) 614-4984. Fax: (410) 955-0105. E-mail: tgraczyk{at}jhsph.edu.

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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, July 2006, p. 4540-4544, Vol. 72, No. 7
0099-2240/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.02503-05
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

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