Heavy metal and metalloid pollution is a matter of concern in animal, human and environmental health (One Health) and also in wildlife conservation worldwide. Studying wild mammals in toxicology has ...been contributing significantly to our knowledge, namely to find out the most critical regions, to understand bioaccumulation and biomagnification phenomena or to evaluate their toxic effects. However, not all the animal tissues and organs provide the same information or should be interpreted in the same way. The best sample to use will depend on the objectives and conditions of the study. This review aims to compare invasive and non-invasive samples to biomonitor heavy metals, providing a brief resume of their advantages, limitations and examples of use. Further research, using a wider range of mammalian species, is required to establish what information can be obtained in biomonitoring studies that use non-invasive samples (such as hair, faeces and parasites) and/or invasive samples (such as blood, liver, kidney, bone and other organs).
Trace elements (including heavy metals) can negatively affect the environment and the health of living beings. Biomonitoring is a transdisciplinary tool to evaluate this pollution type and its ...respective consequences in ecosystems, food chains, and webs. This review used systematic methods to identify published literature on biomonitoring of heavy metal(loid)s using wild mammals on the Iberian Peninsula. A total of 30 different mammalian species (30/141) were included in 62 Iberian biomonitoring studies: 22 species from terrestrial habitats and 8 from aquatic habitats. Carnivores (including piscivores) were the most represented in both habitat types (7/22 in terrestrial; 8/8 in aquatic). Most studies used more than one tissue (2.8 + or - 1.3), with a preference for the liver and kidney. Cd was the most determined metal, measured in 45% of the biomonitoring studies analysed, highlighting its potential health impact on mammals. Further research is crucial to provide more information on mammalian species' susceptibility to this One Health problem, and to cover more habitats, trophic chains, and (or) geographical areas.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
The wild boar (
Sus scrofa
) is a mammal with a broad distribution in the Eurasian territory and a potential reservoir for several zoonotic pathogens. Besides being part of the Mediterranean ...ecosystem and perpetuating these agents in the environment, this species is usually consumed in the Iberian Peninsula, representing a potential public health threat. Due to its extensive expansion and colonization of new geographical areas, which leads to increasing contact with humans, domestic animals, and wildlife, infectious disease assessments are crucial. During the last two decades (2001–2021), several researchers have studied wild boars to identify, understand, and predict potential health risks and disease outbreaks in animals and humans. North-eastern, central-eastern (mainly because of tuberculosis), and southern Portugal were the regions where most pathogens have been identified. Some agents with zoonotic importance (but with few reported data) should be the focus of future surveillance studies, such as
Leptospira
spp.,
Brucella
spp., or
Trichinella
spp. This review aims to summarize the available information on pathogens (bacteria, viruses, and parasites) reported in wild boars, in Portugal, in the last two decades, with a particular focus on agents with zoonotic potential.
Heavy metal(loid) pollution of ecosystems is a current One Health problem. The liver is one of the most affected organs in cases of acute or chronic exposure to abnormal amounts of these substances, ...inducing histopathologic lesions. In order to assess the influence of heavy metal(loids), forty-five European hedgehogs (
) were submitted to necropsy, and liver samples were collected for a routine histopathology exam and metal(loid)s determination (As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu and Pb) by ICP-MS. Age was estimated during the necropsy exam. Biliary hyperplasia was the most frequent lesion observed (16/45; 35.56%). No statistically significant associations were found between biliary hyperplasia and age or sex. Metal(loid)s' concentrations were higher in animals with biliary hyperplasia (except for As). There was a statistically significant difference for both Cd and Co. For As, Cd and Co, cubs and juveniles animals showed significantly lower concentrations than elder individuals. Only for Pb were significant differences found between females and males. As described in the literature, exposure to metal(loid)s may be a cause of biliary hyperplasia, although further research (including the use of biochemical methods) is needed to support these results. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first report of this association in hedgehogs.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Abstract
Mycobiota are essential to the health of any living being, creating a balanced and complex interaction between bacteria, the immune system, and the tissue cells of the host. Talaromyces ...marneffei (also known as Penicillium marneffei) is a dimorphic fungus, endemic in South Asia, which often causes a life-threatening systemic fungal infection (called penicilliosis), particularly in immunocompromised hosts. Nasal swabs from 73 healthy volunteers were analysed to characterize their mycobiota, through its cultural characteristics, morphology, and molecular methods (PCR). All volunteers were also asked to answer to an anonymous questionnaire. Three women were positive (and asymptomatic) for T. marneffei. One of them was reported to have lupus. This study contributes to improving our knowledge about human normal mycobiota, identifying mycotic agents that may cause complicated systemic infections (as T. marneffei), especially in immunosuppressed patients, as well as other possible risk factors of exposure or prognosis.
Lay Summary
• Talaromyces marneffei is a zoonotic fungus that may be responsible for life-threatening systemic infections in immune-comprised patients.
• Talaromyces marneffei was identified in nasal swabs from asymptomatic volunteers.
• This suggests that this fungus may be part of the nasal normal mycobiota of some humans.
Talaromyces marneffei is a zoonotic fungus that mostly infects immunocompromised individuals. For the first time, this fungus was isolated in an adult beech marten (Martes foina) hit by a car, found ...dead in Penamacor, Portugal. During the necropsy, different samples (skin, fur, lymph nodes, lung, spleen, kidneys, and brain) were collected and processed for microbiology (including mycology) and molecular biology. T. marneffei was identified through its mycological characteristics and confirmed by PCR in hair samples. No other lesions or alterations were reported, except a concomitant presence of M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis in lung, kidney and brain samples. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first description of this fungus beech marten, as well as the first case of co-infection with M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis in wildlife fauna. These results suggest a sylvatic life-cycle of T. marneffei, involving beech martens, in Portugal.
•Talaromyces marneffei is a zoonotic fungus responsible for human talaromycosis.•This is the first report of Martes foina as a host for T.marneffei in Portugal.•A sylvatic life-cycle of T. marneffei may be present with One Health implications.
Urban fauna is defined as animal species that can live in urban environments. Several species, including the western-European hedgehog (
), have now been identified as part of this urban fauna, ...becoming permanent residents of parks and gardens in different cities across Europe. Due to the importance that this phenomenon represents for zoonotic disease surveillance, several authors have been conducting zoonotic agents' surveys on hedgehog. The aim of this study is to compare zoonotic diseases' prevalence in hedgehogs in urban environments with those from more rural areas. A systematic review with meta-analysis of twelve studied of zoonotic diseases' (in urban and rural areas of Europe) was therefore conducted for this purpose. Fifteen different zoonoses have been assessed in urban environments and six in rural areas.
was the most prevalent zoonotic agent found in urban habitats (96%). Dermatophytosis shows statistically significant differences between locations (
-value < 0.001), with a higher prevalence in urban Poland (55%; n = 182). Our results suggest further research and a standardized monitoring of different hedgehog populations are essential to understanding the epidemiology of several zoonotic pathogens in different habitat types (urban, rural, natural, industrial, etc.) and preventing possible disease outbreaks.
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