Pigeon Excreta A Potential Source of Cryptococcus Neoformans and their Antifungal Susceptibility Profile

Globally the pigeon droppings are a known ecologic niche for cosmopolitan pathogenic yeast Cryptococcus neoformans, an etiological agent of deadly disease cryptococcosis. In this prospective study between 2015 2017, we analyzed the isolation of C. neoformans strains from a total of 305 pigeon excreta samples of caged pigeons with a pH of 6 8, from different sites of Central India. NCCLS broth microdilution methodology was employed on the isolated strains against amphotericin B, fluconazole, itraconazole, ketoconazole, and voriconazole. C. neoformans were found positive from fifty five dry guano feces. Maximum positive samples found for the pathogens were from caged pigeon excreta collected from the 12 different sites in city Jabalpur 23 46 , 9 18 from four sites katni, followed by 3 sites from each city Betul 8 16 , Satna 6 12 and Rewa 4 .08 . The highest frequency of C. neoformans was recorded from site 2 60 , followed by site 24 37.5 , site 17 27.27 , whereas site 3, 6, 10, 15 and 19 found negative for pathogenic yeast. the present study of antifungal susceptibility profile for C. neoformans revealed resistance against ketoconazole 25.5 and fluconazole 8.5 . The highest susceptibility was observed for amphotericin B 100 followed by voriconazole 97.9 and itraconazole 78.7 No resistance was found for polyene drug amphotericin B. Fluconazole 46.8 and ketoconazole 36.2 . This data of prevalence and colonization of this pathogen suggests that the dry excreta provides a more favorable environment for growth inside the cages and is more concerned with health hazards of the humans in proximity and further comprehensive study is required to reinforce the antifungal spectrum for the prudent therapy of cryptococcosis. Richa Gumasta | Shankar Mohan Singh | Ravi Prakash Mishra | Shesh Rao Nawange | Abhijeet Garg | Anuranjan Singh Rathore "Pigeon Excreta: A Potential Source of Cryptococcus Neoformans and their Antifungal Susceptibility Profile" Published in International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (ijtsrd), ISSN: 2456-6470, Volume-3 | Issue-5 , August 2019, URL: https://www.ijtsrd.com/papers/ijtsrd25250.pdfPaper URL: https://www.ijtsrd.com/biological-science/biotechnology/25250/pigeon-excreta-a-potential-source-of-cryptococcus-neoformans-and-their-antifungal-susceptibility-profile/richa-gumasta