Resumo

Captive animal illnesses have shown expressive increase lately, which is mainly due to inadequate animal management. This fact contributes to the establishment of a favorable environment for their dissemination. As a consequence, several cases of gut microbial imbalances regarding captive animals have been reported, corroborating to the disadvantages associated to the antiparasitic effect of vermifuges and antibiotics. Probiotic foods are currently considered alternative tools for the treatment and prophylaxis of diarrheas, for they contain beneficial microorganisms which help suppress pathogen activity. Looking through the prism of advantages offered by probiotics, the present work aimed to evaluate the antiparasitic effect of a Lactobacillius-based probiotic preparation on old world primates held in captivity in the Municipal Zoological Garden of Volta Redonda – RJ - Brazil. The rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta) and sacred baboon (Papio hamadryas) primates received single daily 10 ml doses of a preparation containing 10⁹ CFU/ml of Lactobacillus casei ATCC 7469, Lactobacillus plantarum ATCC 8014, Lactobacillus fermentum ATCC 9338 and Lactobacillus acidophilus ATCC 7469 in the form of a pool of probiotic bacteria in aseptic conditions. The probiotic pool was administered over a period of 135 days together with honey bread for better acceptability, 30 minutes before each animal’s daily feed. Analysis of parasitic decrease was carried out with quantitative parasitological tests employing McMaster’s technique to estimate the eggs per gram rate (EPG) in the feces, with 15 days intervals between samples. All primates were parasitized by Trichuris trichiura. After analysis, significant reduction rates of 55.1% and 53.6% in the EPG were found after 135 days using the probiotic preparation on a daily basis, presenting maximal efficacy.