Lungs of 40 ruminants from Bulgaria with natural small lungworm (Nematoda: Protostrongylidae) infections were investigated, including 16 goats, 15 sheep, 7 mouflons, and 2 chamois. Muellerius capillaris, M. tenuispiculatus, Cystocaulus ocreatus, Neostrongylus linearis, and Protostrongylus brevispiculum infections were predominantly associated with nodular lesions, and Protostrongylus rufescens, Protostrongylus hobmaieri and Protostrongylus rupicaprae were associated with extensive lesions located mainly along the length of the large bronchi. The extent of lung abnormalities was most severe in the sheep. Alveolitis, parasite granulomas, damage of the alveolar septa, hyperplasia of the lung associated lymphoid tissue, and sclerosis of the parenchyma were found upon microscope examinations. In the goats compared to the sheep and mouflons, the terminal bronchi, bronchioles, and alveoli were more affected than the interstitium. Our research shows that the pathological lesions in the lungs of ruminants infected with protostrongylids depend on both the helminth and the host species. To our knowledge, this work is the first to provide data on the pathomorphological lesions in mouflon lungs infected with protostrongylids.
A description of the morphology of first stage Elaphostrongylus cervi (Nematoda: Protostrongylidae) larvae on materials from Bulgaria is presented. The larvae were obtained from a red deer (Cervus elaphus L.) from the wildlife-breeding station "Vitinya" in the Balkan Mountains. The metric results about the larvae in micrometers are as follows: body length −423 (377-473), maximum body width −20 (18-24), esophagus length −193 (172-217), distance from the anterior body end to the excretory pore −110 (85-134), distance from the anterior body end to the genital premordium −281 (218-324), distance from the anus to the tail tip −37 (32-42), and tail length −11 (10-14). The present data were compared with previous reports on the same species in West and Central Europe. This is the first morphometric description of first stage E. cervi larvae from Bulgaria and Southeast Europe.
SummaryDirofilaria immitis, the agent of canine dirofilariosis, is a common parasite of domestic and wild carnivores with zoonotic potential and worldwide distribution, being endemic in many countries. Bulgaria is among European countries recognized as endemic for this heartworm parasite. In the present study, D. immitis adults recovered from pulmonary arteries of domestic dog and golden jackal originating from the Pazardzhik region in southern Bulgaria, and from red fox originating from the Plovdiv region in central-southern Bulgaria, were genetically analyzed in nuclear targets. The first PCR amplification of the internal transcribed region 2 (ITS2) of the ribosomal DNA with previously published D. immitis-specific primers yielded single fragments in size of 302 bp that is characteristic for these heartworms. PCR products of three isolates, resulted from the second amplification of the 5.8S-ITS2 region (235 bp) with pan-filarioid primers, were subjected to direct DNA sequencing. Identical nucleotide composition was detected across the screened target region for these Bulgarian isolates. When the 5.8S-ITS2 sequences were phylogenetically compared to the GenBank-retrieved D. immitis sequences in a worldwide context, the neighbor-joining analysis has shown three discrete clades. The first clade was composed of D. immitis isolates from Europe (including the studied Bulgarian samples), Asia and South America, in the second clade samples from Asia and South America were placed, whereas the third clade was formed by two Brazilian dog isolates originated from the north and southeast part of the country. The purpose of the present study was to verify the taxonomic characterization of D. immitis nematodes from Bulgaria based on morphology and compare their genetic structure with filariae obtained from the different world regions using molecular assays. It also summarizes previous epidemiological and ecological studies on the parasite distribution and prevalences in different hosts and regions undertaken so far in Bulgaria.
Description of the morphology of Protostrongylus rupicaprae and Varestrongylus sagittatus (Nematoda: Protostrongylidae) on materials from Bulgaria are presented. The specimens of P. rupicaprae were obtained from a chamois from the wildlife-breeding station "Izvora" in the Rhodope Mountains and those of V. sagittatus from red deer from the wildlife-breeding station "Vitinya" in the Balkan Mountains. The present data were compared with those of the same species indicated by other authors on materials from West and Central Europe and Southwest Asia. This is the first description of the morphology of these two helminth species on materials from the southeast part of the European continent.
One hundred and ten faecal samples and five lungs of red deer (aged 2 to 8 years) coming from the State Hunting Enterprise Vitinya in Bulgaria (Balkan Mountain) were examined. A larvoscopic examination of the faeces and helminthological necropsies, pathoanatomical and histological examinations of the lungs were performed. The overall prevalence of protostrongylids was 70% (77/110), and the prevalence of Elaphostrongylus cervi and Varestrongylus sagittatus was 68% (75/110), and 27% (30/110), respectively. In 25% (28/110) of the faecal samples, mixed infection with V. sagittatus and E. cervi was found. Mixed protostrongylid infections with those two species were detected in lungs of all animals. The macroscopic lesions found in the lungs parasitized by those helminths were classified as follows: gray, dark-red to black stained portions on the lungs surface varying in shape and size; brown-black nodes clearly differentiated from the surrounding tissue; small, hard subserous nodules. The most frequently observed microscopic abnormalities were desquamatous bronchitis, alveolitis associated with accumulations of alveolar macrophages and eosinophilic granulocytes, haemorrhages in the alveoli and the alveolar septa, development of parasitic granulomas in the interstitium as well as a peribronchial, perilobular, disseminated and intralobular hyperplasia of the lymphoid tissue. The macroscopic and microscopic alterations depended on the species of the parasites found in the inflammatory areas. The infections with E. cervi were most often associated with the lesions on the lungs surface varying in color, shape and size and with the small, hard subserous nodules, and those with V. sagittatus -with the brownblack nodes clearly differentiated from the surrounding tissue. Cervus elaphus, protostrongylids, lung pathomorphology, lung histologyInfections with protostrongylids (Nematoda: Metastrongyloidea) are rather common in red deer (Cervus elaphus L.). Depending on the parasite species, the pathological changes are of different localization. Еlaphostrongylus cervi causes damage to the lungs, the central nervous system and the skeletal musculature, while Varestrongylus sagittatus affects only the lungs. Regardless of the localization, the pathogenic action of these parasites on the host is powerful. The parasitized deer are in a visibly poor health condition, have impaired trophy qualities and useless meat upon shooting. That is why etiological, epidemiological, clinical and pathomorphological investigations on these infections have been carried out in many countries, such as Austria, New Zealand, Scotland, Poland, Denmark, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Spain, Germany and Italy (Kutzer and Prosl 1975;Sutherland 1976;English et al. 1985;Demiaszkiewicz 1987;Eriksen et al. 1989;Řezáč and Blažek 1991;Pusterla et al. 1998;Vicente and Gortazar 2001;Rehbein et al. 2002;Bregoli et al. 2006). However, these studies are sometimes limited and contradictory. The aim of this study was to perform etiopathological investigations on...
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