Abstract
As microbial contamination of leeches poses a risk of transmission of pathogens to humans, contact with non-sterile leeches causes a potential hazard to human health. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the mycological purity of the body surface, jaws/pharynx and intestines of the medical leech, Hirudo verbana, and the purity of aquarium water within which the leeches were incubated. Leeches were kept without feeding under optimum laboratory conditions recommended for medicinal uses. The strains of fungi were isolated according to our own methods and standard mycological procedures. Of the 150 cultures taken from 50 leeches and 50 samples of water, 152 strains of yeast-like fungi and yeasts belonging to 14 species and 3 genera were identified. The greatest number of fungal species (11) was isolated from the leech jaws, next (10) from the body surface, while the fewest species (8) were found from the samples of water in which the animals were maintained. Fungal isolates belonging to biosafety level two (BSL-2), classified as potential pathogens for humans identified were Candida albicans, Candida ciferrii, Candida krusei, Candida tropicalis, Trichosporon asahii and Trichosporon asteroides. Some other isolates with a decreased pathogenicity potential (BSL-1) also identified were Candida guilliermondii, Candida famata, Candida lambica, Candida parapsilosis and Rhodotorula rubra. The isolation of a high number of yeast-like fungal strains from H. verbana suggests that this medical leech is a vector of potentially pathogenic human fungal species. Key words: Yeast-like fungi, Candida spp., leeches, Hirudo verbana, vector.
Highlights
All leeches are either predatory or parasitic carnivores
Of the 150 cultures taken from 50 leeches and 50 samples of water, 152 strains of yeast-like fungi and yeasts belonging to 14 species and 3 genera were identified
Fungal isolates belonging to biosafety level two (BSL-2), classified as potential pathogens for humans identified were Candida albicans, Candida ciferrii, Candida krusei, Candida tropicalis, Trichosporon asahii and Trichosporon asteroides
Summary
All leeches are either predatory or parasitic carnivores. The majority of blood-sucking leeches live in fresh water environments. The typical habitat is a eutrophic pond with a muddy substratum with littoral vegetation (Elliott and Kutschera, 2011). Leeches feeding on the blood of numerous aquatic animals such as fishes, amphibians, water birds and mammals (including humans) are a source of pathogens for successive hosts. Various microorganisms living in the natural water reservoir can colonize the leeches (Eroglu et al, 2001; Schulz and Faisal, 2010). More than 650 species of leech have been identified, but only 15 of them are used medically and are classified as medicinal leeches. In Europe, two species of leech, Hirudo medicinalis and H
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