Ciência e Tecnologia Veterinária

Cryptococcus albidus var. albidus Isolated from Turquoise-Fronted Parrots (Amazona aestiva: Psittacidae) Kept in Captivity: A Probable Reservoir Ecological of Fungal Specimen

Abstract

Diana Costa Nascimento, Claudete Rodrigues Paula, Luciana da Silva Ruiz, Carina Domaneschi, Bianca Silva Navarro, Francisco de Assis Baroni, Reinaldo Bolognini Orsi1, Marcia de Souza Carvalho Melhem and Diniz Pereira Leite Jr

Cryptococcus is an opportunistic yeast that causes life-threatening infections as meningoencephalitis primarily in immunocompromised hosts, generally associated with AIDS. The source of this organism is mainly pigeon excreta; however, other avian species’ excreta are implicated as a source of this yeast. The aim of this study was to perform the isolation of yeasts of the Cryptococcus genus from the cloacae of 40 parrots kept in captivity area of the genus Amazona aestiva. These birds were anesthetized, the cloacae washed, and then swabs from the cloaca collected. The yeasts isolated from cloacae birds were studied by phenotypic and genotypic methods. The production of extracellular enzymes as virulence factors (protease and phospholipase) was performed too. From the total of parrots studied, 10 strains of yeasts were isolated. Nine of the strains belonged to the specie Cryptococcus albidus var. albidus and one sample belonged to the specie Cryptococcus laurentti. The extracellular enzymes research demonstrated that 80% of the isolates were phospholipase producers and all of them were protease positives. These results suggest that not just the environment but also the birds of A. aestiva genus may be the carriers of C. albidus. We point out that the strains produced virulence factors. This is the first report of the isolation of C. albidus var. albidus of A. aestiva parrots and to assert that this bird is a special ecological niche of capped yeast.