This research aimed to determine the presence of paramphistomids in cattle slaughtered in a slaughterhouse of the Ñuble Region of Chile, to identify flukes and to analyze the frequency of these parasites in the Maule, Ñuble, and Biobío administrative regions of Chile. Between October of 2016 and April of 2017, rumens of 494 cattle were examined for flukes in the forestomachs. Worms were identified morphologically and, in addition, molecular analysis of the internal transcriber spacer region 2 of the fluke’s DNA was done and phylogenetic analyses were performed with Bayesian inference in 14 worms. The frequency was analyzed by locality (low- or highlands) and age. The overall frequency was 11.24%. The district with the highest frequency of presentation was Chillán Viejo (30.8%). Districts in the lowlands had similar frequencies to those in the mountain lands (p=0.1). The frequency of flukes was significantly higher in adult animals than in young ones (p<0.01). We obtained a 460 bp-length fragment of DNA that was identical to the sequences previously identified as Paramphistomum cervi and Calicophoron microbothrioides, and performed morphological analyses confirmed that our samples belonged to C. microbothrioides. This is the first published study of C. microbothrioides in Chile.
Parasitological studies of the Franklin's gull, Leucophaeus pipixcan, are scarce, and knowledge about its endoparasites is quite limited. In order to describe its parasitic community, a total of 60 Franklin’s gulls were captured in the coastal area in central Chile, using modified Bal-chatri traps. Ectoparasites were collected from all 60 live individuals through inspection of their plumage, while 30 were examined for endoparasites by standard parasitological necropsy. The prevalence of ectoparasites was 78.3%, including the feather mite Zachvatkinia larica (43.3%) and four species of lice: Actornithophilus piceus lari (15.0%), Austromenopon transversum (6.7%), Quadraceps punctatus (10.0%) and Saemundssonia lari (46.7%). Some 25 of 30 (83.3%) of birds necropsied were parasitized with the following helminths: Aporchis sp. (6.7%), Tetrabothrius cylindraceus (56.7%), Cyclophyllidea gen. sp. (3.3%), Profilicollis altmani (56.7%), Eucoleus contortus (10.0%), Cosmocephalus obvelatus (13.3%), Paracuaria adunca (10.0%), Stegophorus sp. (3.3%) and Tetrameres skrjabini (3.3%). To our knowledge, with the exception of P. altmani, these helminths are reported for first time in the Franklin's gull.
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