First confirmed record of Trichobilharzia franki Müller & Kimmig, 1994, from Radix auricularia (Linnaeus, 1758) for Austria

Abstract

Avian schistosomes are of medical and veterinary importance as they are responsible for the annually occurring cercarial dermatitis outbreaks. For Austria, so far, only Trichobilharzia szidati Neuhaus 1952 was confirmed on species level as causative agent of cercarial dermatitis. Here we present the first record of Trichobilharzia franki Müller & Kimmig 1994 in Austria. The species was detected during a survey of digenean trematodes in Upper Austrian water bodies. Furthermore, we provide DNA barcodes of T. franki as well as measurements of several parasite individuals to indicate the intraspecific diversity. We also recommend the usage of an alternative primer pair, since the “standard COI primer pair” previously used for Schistosomatidae amplified an aberrant fragment in the sequence of T. franki. Overall, our study shows how limited our knowledge about occurrence and distribution of avian schistosomes in Austria is and how important it is to acquire such a knowledge to estimate ecological and epidemiological risks in the future.

Migratory routes, domesticated birds and cercarial dermatitis: the distribution of Trichobilharzia franki in Northern Iran

“…which have come from cercariae in France (one from the Czech Republic and Austria), making it difficult to characterize genetic diversity across time, space and hosts, with few exceptions [37,61]. This study has expanded geographic sampling and suggests that T. franki populations are not isolated, at least spanning from France to Iran.…”

“…Until now, T. franki had been confirmed genetically only in Europe to include mostly northern countries (France, Great Britain, Denmark, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Austria, western Russia) [ 3 , 16 , 17 , 19 , 20 , 23 , 28 , 32 , 36 – 38 , 42 , 45 , 61 , 62 ] and now the geographic range is extended to include Europe and Western Asia (Iran). This is the first study to find intact adults of T. franki and characterize them since the original description.…”

“…Since 1994, there have been few confirmed reports of adults other than small fragments or eggs, and very little effort has been made to sequence more than the nuclear ITS , particularly ITS2 (which is not a useful marker for congeners) and little effort to voucher the specimens or snail hosts. There are very few mitochondrial sequences available for T. franki , most of which have come from cercariae in France (one from the Czech Republic and Austria), making it difficult to characterize genetic diversity across time, space and hosts, with few exceptions [ 37 , 61 ]. This study has expanded geographic sampling and suggests that T. franki populations are not isolated, at least spanning from France to Iran.…”

“…Some of these ducks will migrate to northern Africa and if there is R. auricularia or perhaps another permissive snail, then likely this schistosome can extend all along the migration route. Migration was also suggested as the cause of haplotype sharing in T. franki from the UK and Austria [ 45 , 61 ].…”

“…Recent studies have uncovered a more detailed pattern of relationships among species of Trichobilharzia across a broader geographic range that encompasses the avian host migration routes [ 6 , 25 , 26 , 37 , 38 , 61 ]. These patterns capture genetic diversity in the worms that reflect the long distances their bird hosts move (e.g.…”