Elevation and vegetation determine Cryptosporidium oocyst shedding by yellow-bellied marmots (Marmota flaviventris) in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

ABSTRACT: Wildlife are increasingly recognized as important biological reservoirs of zoonotic species of Cryptosporidium that might contaminate water and cause human exposure to this protozoal parasite. The habitat range of the yellow-bellied marmot (Marmota flaviventris) overlaps extensively with the watershed boundaries of municipal water supplies for California communities along the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. We conducted a cross-sectional epidemiological study to estimate the fecal shedding of Cryptosporidium oocysts by yellow-bellied marmots and to quantify the environmental loading rate and determine risk factors for Cryptosporidium fecal shedding in this montane wildlife species. The observed proportion of Cryptosporidium positive fecal samples was 14.7% (33/224, positive number relative

SUBMITTER: Montecino-Latorre D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4365143 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature