Gastrointestinal Parasites in Captive Olive Baboons in A UK Safari Park

Parasitology  ·  2023

Alexandra Juhasz; Elly Spiers; Ellie Tinsley; Emma Chapman; William Shaw; Marion Head; Lucas J Cunningham; John Archer; Sam Jones; Lee R Haines; Naomi Davies Walsh; Bridget Johnson; Jen Quayle; Jayne Jones; Elwyn James LaCourse; Jonathan Cracknell; John Russell Stothard;

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ABSTRACT

From the safety inside vehicles, Knowsley Safari offers visitors a close-up encounter with captive olive baboons. As exiting vehicles may be contaminated with baboon stool, a comprehensive coprological inspection was conducted to address public health concerns. Baboon stools were obtained from vehicles, and sleeping areas, inclusive of video analysis of baboon–vehicle interactions. A purposely selected 4-day sampling period enabled comparative inspections of 2662 vehicles, with a total of 669 baboon stools examined (371 from vehicles and 298 from sleeping areas). As informed by our pilot study, front-line diagnostic methods were: QUIK-CHEK rapid diagnostic test (RDT) ( and ), Kato–Katz coproscopy ( ) and charcoal culture ( ). Some 13.9% of vehicles were contaminated with baboon stool. Prevalence of giardiasis was 37.4% while cryptosporidiosis was <0.01%, however, an absence of faecal cysts by quality control coproscopy, alongside lower than the expected levels of -specific DNA, judged RDT results as misleading, grossly overestimating prevalence. Prevalence of trichuriasis was 48.0% and strongyloidiasis was 13.7%, a first report of in UK. We advise regular blanket administration(s) of anthelminthics to the colony, exploring pour-on formulations, thereafter, smaller-scale indicator surveys would be adequate.

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