Identification and characterization of intestinal microsporidia in javan rusa (cervus timorensis) and sika deer (cervus nippon) in Sungai Lembing, Kuantan, Pahang / Juwairiyah Mohd Nor

Microsporidia are obligate, spore-forming, and intracellular parasite that can cause microsporidiosis in a wide variety of animals and humans. The microsporidia can produce an environmentally resistant spore. Enterocytozoon bieneusi is one of the microsporidia species that has been found in both animal and human hosts. This can raise the public health concerns of zoonotic transmission of microsporidia. E. bieneusi can also infect enterocytes commonly in the villi hence causing gastrointestinal illness due to necrosis in animals. Previously, the effects of microsporidian infection on farm animals in Malaysia are increasingly being studied. However, there is limited study of microsporidia regarding the molecular genetic characterization of deer species in Malaysia. Thus, this cross-sectional study was carried out on farm deer, which are Javan rusa (Cervus timorensis) and sika deer (Cervus nippon) in Ladang Rusa Sungai Jin, Pahang by using microscopic and molecular method for specific detection of microsporidia in deer stool samples. The prevalence of E. bieneusi in farm deer can be understood by collecting 50 fecal samples from 25 Javan rusa and 25 sika deer regardless of their age and their gender. The stool samples are microscopically examined for microsporidia spores after been stained with Gram-chromotrope Kinyoun staining technique. Then, the identification of Microsporidia spp. needs to be confirmed with more specific assay which is the conventional polymerase chain reaction assay. Overall, none of the sample showed positive result by Gram-chromotrope Kinyoun staining and conventional PCR assay. Zero prevalence reported in this study could be determined due to several factors such as different species of deer have been studied, method practice in detection of E. bieneusi in deer stool samples, different primers used, and farming mode. Despite the negative results, this study is still being considered important as the workers in this deer farm are from the Orang Asli tribe who lives nearby to this farm. Other than that, this Ladang Rusa Sungai Jin is the largest supplier of deer meat in Kuantan, Pahang. Hence, further studies are needed to practice high sensitivity detection method and diverse species of deer to give accurate and precise epidemiological data, thus the transmission of microsporidia from deer to farm handlers can be fathomed.