Epidemic study of Cryptococcus neoformans in bird parks

• Main Authors: Chin-Shan Guan, 關親山
• Other Authors: 董光中
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2008
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/73884224785725562163

碩士 === 國立中興大學 === 獸醫公共衛生學研究所 === 96 === Cryptococcus neoformanss an encapsulated fungal organism , can cause disease in apparently immunocompetent, as well as immunocompromised hosts, such as chemotherapy, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and organ transplantation. There are five serotypes (A, B, C, D, AD) and three varieties (var. grubii, var. neoformans, var. gattii) of this organism. In order to study the distribution and the genotype of C. neoformans from different sources, sunflower seed agar was used for C. neoformans isolation. Samples were isolated from A bird park, Chi-Tou forest recreational area, Jushan area, air and plants. To clarify the relationship between isolates from avian, plants, and in A bird park, the method of CAP59 sequencing was applied to explore the genetic structure of the organism and understand the molecular epidemiology of environmental isolates. The prevalence of C. neoformans in avian excreta、air and plants were 0.39%, 0% and 0％ (2/539, 0/18, 0/7). No C. neoformans had been isolated from plant, air, and other park. Only two strains of C. neoformans had been isolated from A bird park and both of them were identified as serotype A by using CAP59 gene sequencing. In conclusions, application of CAP59 gene sequencing could differentiate all the strains into different serotypes. Furthermore, this study may provide more information in epidemic prevention.