Role of Guinea Pigs (Cavia porcellus) Raised as Livestock in Ecuadorian Andes as Reservoirs of Zoonotic Yeasts

ABSTRACT: Guinea pigs (Cavia porcellus) have been reared for centuries in the Andean region for ceremonial purposes or as the main ingredient of traditional foods. The animals are kept in close proximity of households and interact closely with humans; this also occurs in western countries, where guinea pigs are considered pets. Even though it is acknowledged that domestic animals carry pathogenic yeasts in their tissues and organs that can cause human diseases, almost nothing is known in the case of guinea pigs. In this work we used traditional microbiological approaches and molecular biology techniques to isolate, identify, and characterize potentially zoonotic yeasts colonizing the nasal duct of guinea pigs raised as livestock in Southern Ecuador (Cañar Province). Our results show that 44% of the

SUBMITTER: Buela L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9774381 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature