Title: Biomonitoring of human enteropathogenic microsporidian spores in groundwater of two sub-divisions in the centre region (cameroon) : Impact of physico-chemical factors
Abstract:
Microsporidia is an emerging opportunistic disease, dangerous, and very resistant to water. They are poorly known in Sub-Saharan Africa with high prevalence in the immunocompromised patient (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome patient). In sub-urban and rural areas population around usually drink groundwater. This study set out to evaluate the dynamic and ecology of Human enteropathogenic Microsporidian. The Physico-chemical analysis was carried out both in the field and at the Hydrobiology and Environmental laboratory of the University of Yaounde I. The microsporidian spores observation was made at 100X objective based on the use of Weber's technique. The Physico-chemical parameters averages revealed that this groundwater water is slightly acidic (6.31 ± 0.58 CU) with high values of turbidity ?? (29.23 ± 22.52 FTU). Mineral-bearing record is low (242.62 70 ± 181.50 μS/cm) with a temperature of 25.25 ± 0.71 °C. The biological analysis shows variations in shapes within the same species and between species on one hand and identical forms between species on the other hand. In this study, two microsporidian species were characterized with average densities of 185 ± 93 spores/L (51.52 %) with a maximum of 1400 spores/L and 175± 152 spores/L (48.48%) with a maximum of 600 spores/L for Enterocytozoon bieneusi and Encephalitozoon intestinalis respectively. Statistical analysis shows significant and positive correlations between the densities of spores and turbidity and negative correlations with electrical conductivity. The Mann-Whitney test revealed significant differences in microsporidian spores densities seasonally with great values during the short rainy season (p ≤ 0.05). Furthermore, this study shows that, the consumption of untreated water from wells and springs is a public health problem. This findings proved the importance of Microsporidia to monitor the quality of drinking water. Microsporidia should also be included in the list clinical diagnosis in case of diarrhea symptoms.
