Prevalence of Gastrointestinal Parasites in Zoo Animals and Phylogenetic Characterization of Toxascaris leonina (Linstow, 1902) and Baylisascaris transfuga (Rudolphi, 1819) in Jiangsu Province, Eastern China

The burden of gastrointestinal parasites in zoo animals has serious implications for their welfare and the health of veterinarians and visitors. Zhuyuwan Zoo is located in the eastern suburb of Yangzhou city in eastern China, in which over 40 species of zoo animals are kept. In order to understand the infection status of GI parasites in Zhuyuwan Zoo, a total of 104 fresh fecal samples collected randomly from birds ( = 19), primates ( = 19), and non-primate mammals ( = 66) were analyzed using the saturated saline flotation technique and nylon sifter elutriation and sieving method for eggs/oocysts, respectively. Two species were molecularly characterized. The results showed that the overall prevalence of parasitic infection was 42.3% (44/104). The parasitic infection rate in birds, primates, and non-primate mammals were 26.3% (5/19), 31.6% (6/19), and 50.0% (33/66), respectively. A total of 11 species of parasites were identified, namely, Trichostrongylidae, sp., spp., spp., sp., , , , spp., spp., and spp. spp. eggs were first detected from the captive Père David's deer, and spp. eggs were first reported from sika deer in zoo in China. A sequence analysis of ITS-2 and 1 showed that the eggs isolated from the African lion ( Linnaeus, 1758) were , and the eggs from the brown bear ( Linnaeus, 1758) were . The public health threat posed by these potential zoonotic parasitic agents requires attention. These results lay a theoretical foundation for prevention and control of wild animal parasitic diseases at zoos in China.