Abstract
Balantidium coli is an enteropathogenic cosmopolitan ciliate which causes balantidiasis in humans. There is a high interest in studying it’s occurrence in developing countries because of the vulnerability of the population to infectious diseases. The present study was carried out in order to characterise the cysts of the parasite and to evaluate the influence of environmental variables on their dispersal in an urban stream which is being exploited by the population to accomplish urban agriculture, industrial and domestic activities. The presence of round (825 ± 610 cysts/L) and oval shaped cysts (246 ± 300 cysts/L), whose size varies between 30 and 75 µm was noted. A canonical correspondence analysis shows that the lowest density of the cysts and a relatively low concentration of the ecological indicators of organic pollution are observed upstream (E1) and down stream (E5). High abundance of cyst of Balantidium coli was observed in stations located along a piggery effluent associated with a major market. The similitude index of Bray-Curtis shows an 84% of resemblance between E2, E4 which are located midstream and very close to a populated urban area. Higher densities of cyst are registered during the short rainy season (207±213 cysts/L). Key words: Balantidium coli, cyst, distribution, transmission, urban stream, Yaounde.
Highlights
An infectious disease constitutes throughout the world, an enormous threat to the populations (Nozais, 1998; Ajeagah et al, 2010)
Hebert and Légaré (2000) noted that when the slope of a river decreases, the water flow rate decrease. This slows the runoff of bio-contaminants such as the cysts of B. coli in the aquatic ecosystem, thereby increasing the possibilities of contacts with the riverside population who exploit this hydrosystem for their domestic purposes
The results presented in our study reveal that the aquatic system is completely devoid of B. coli cysts at the source and presents a maximum density at the piggery effluent located at the midstream
Summary
An infectious disease constitutes throughout the world, an enormous threat to the populations (Nozais, 1998; Ajeagah et al, 2010). Among the waterborne diarrheal diseases of tropical concern, we can mention Balantidiasis. This disease can be fatal in developing countries due to malnutrition, surinfestation and precarious health conditions of the population (Schuster and Ramirez-Avila, 2008). It is caused by ciliated protozoa known as Balantidium coli.
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