Cystic echinococcosis (CE) is a zoonotic disease caused by the tapeworms of the Echinococcus granulosus sensu lato complex, which have worldwide distribution. No data on the circulation of genotypes of the E. granulosus complex in intermediate hosts in endemic areas in Calabria are available. The aims of our study were to evaluate the dispersal of genotypes of the E. granulosus complex in Calabria and to characterise parasite isolates by Sanger sequencing and phylogenetic analysis. We collected 71 animal samples from pigs, wild boars, sheep, cattle and goats. The first PCR screening analysis targeted three partial genomic regions: the cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (cox1), calreticulin protein (cal) and NADH dehydrogenase subunit 1 (nad1); this identified 28 parasitic cysts. Bidirectional sequencing of cox1 amplicons and phylogenetic analysis allowed us to characterise all isolates. Molecular analyses of 28 newly generated cox1 sequences revealed that most wild boars (n = 16) and three pigs were parasitised by the larval stage of Taenia hydatidena Pallas, 1766, called cysticercus tenuicollis. Two isolates from wild boars were identified as Echinococcus canadensis Webster and Cameron, 1961 (G7), while five sheep and two goats were infected with E. granulosus G1 (sheep strain) and G1 microvariant (previously reported as G2 genotype or Tasmanian sheep strain), respectively. These molecular findings should prompt further and more extensive studies, to elucidate regional transmission patterns and to guide control programs., Grazia Pavia, Federica De Gori, Lucia Ciambrone, Natalino De Gori, Rosanna Musarella and Francesco Casalinuovo., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Identifying patterns with sufficient predictive power is a constant challenge for ecologists to address ecological problems related to species conservation, pollution or infectious disease control. During the last years, the amounts of parasitological studies in this sense increased, but they are still scarce in urban environments. The main aim of this study was to investigate if the helminth communities of urban rodents are structured within host assembly (compound community) or they are a result of random events occurring at each individual host scale (infracommunity). A total of 203 rodents belonging to four species, Rattus rattus (Linnaeus), Rattus norvegicus (Berkenhout), Mus musculus Linnaeus and the native Oligoryzomys flavescens (Waterhouse) and captured in different landscape units of the City of Buenos Aires (industrial-residential neighbourhoods, shantytowns and parklands) were analysed. The results showed that infracommunities could be grouped according to composition and relative abundances and that they respond to the structure of the host community. Thus, the component communities defined in this study could be identified as subsets of the compound community (rodent assemblage) and infracommunities (each host) as random samples within each one. Quantitative differences among component communities were denoted by comparing the infection levels of helminths described as central species. Therefore, infracommunities of R. norvegicus and O. flavescens were the most predictable because of the high abundance of the nematodes Heterakis spumosa Schneider, 1866 and Nippostrongylus brasiliensis (Travassos, 1914), and Stilestrongylus flavescens (Sutton et Durette-Desset, 1991), respectively. Several mechanisms contribute to complexity of the structure of parasite communities, where specific parasites, definitive and intermediate hosts, and environmental and anthropogenic factors all play a role in the dynamics of the compound community., Diego Hancke, Olga Virginia Suárez., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Babesiosis is an emerging zoonotic disease and various wildlife species are reservoir hosts for zoonotic species of Babesia Starcovici, 1893. The objective of the present study was to investigate the presence and prevalence of Babesia spp. in moose Alces alces (Linnaeus) in two regions of Norway. A total of 99 spleen samples were collected from animals of various ages from an area with the occurrence of the tick Ixodes ricinus (Linnaeus, 1758), and from an area where the ticks are known to be absent. Infection was detected by the amplification of different regions of the 18S rRNA gene by using two different PCR primer sets specific of Babesia. Babesia spp. were found in the spleen samples of four moose. All Babesia-infected animals were from an area where ticks occur, with an infection rate of 6% (4 of 70). Babesia-positive samples were obtained from a five-month old moose calf and three adults. Two Babesia species, Babesia capreoli (Enigk et Friedhoff, 1962) and a B. odocoilei-like, were identified. Co-infection with Anaplasma phagocytophilum was obtained in two animals. This is the first report of the occurrence of B. capreoli and B. odocoilei-like species in moose., Irma Pūraitė, Olav Rosef, Jana Radzijevskaja, Indrė Lipatova, Algimantas Paulauskas., and Obsahuje bibliografii