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Evolutionary, molecular and comparative zoology
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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 58(3)

Wombats and domestic livestock as potential vectors of Cryptosporidium and Giardia in an agricultural riparian area

Philip Borchard A D , Ian A. Wright B and David J. Eldridge C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A School of Biological Sciences A08, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.

B School of Natural Sciences, University of Western Sydney, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith South DC, NSW 1797, Australia.

C Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water, Evolution and Ecology Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2034, Australia.

D Corresponding author. Email: pborchard@bigpond.com

Australian Journal of Zoology 58(3) 150-153 https://doi.org/10.1071/ZO10026
Submitted: 16 April 2010  Accepted: 15 July 2010   Published: 25 August 2010

Abstract

Emerging pathogenic diseases are a significant burden on global economies and public health administrators. In Australia, the pathogens Giardia and Cryptosporidium are widespread in riparian areas subject to urban or agricultural contamination. Bare-nosed wombats (Vombatus ursinus) occur at relatively high densities alongside domestic cattle in agricultural riparian areas in south-eastern Australia and may transmit protozoan pathogens. We assessed the distribution of wombat scats and cattle pats on streambanks and screened them for the presence of Giardia and Cryptosporidium. The density of wombat scats declined with increasing distance from water while the cover of cattle pats increased with distance from water, but only at sites subjected to low cattle usage. We were unable to find any Cryptosporidium species or genotypes known to infect humans in either wombat or cattle faeces. One cattle sample contained Cryptosporidium bovis, a cattle-specific organism unlikely to be zoonotic. Giardia duodenalis (Assemblage E), a non-zoonotic pathogen, was detected in four cattle samples, but no wombat samples tested positive for Giardia. Our results suggest that while wombats represent a low-pathogen risk there is a need for consistent monitoring of potentially harmful waterborne and chlorine-resistant Giardia and Cryptosporidium pathogens in drinking-water catchments.

Additional keywords: cattle, drinking water, pathogen, zoonoses.


Acknowledgements

We thank Josephine Ng, Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Science, Murdoch University, for analysing the faecal samples, and the Sydney Catchment Authority for assistance with faecal collection and transport. Clare McArthur, John McIlroy, Peter Cox and Christobel Ferguson provided useful comments on the work. We are grateful to the collaborating landholders who allowed us to work on their land.


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