Morphological and molecular identification with frequency analysis of Calicophoron microbothrioides in central Chile

Abstract

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.

Calicophoron daubneyi (Digenea: Paramphistomidae): The efficacy of anthelmintics in naturally infected cattle

“…The effectiveness of the treatment is further confirmed by studies by Vadlejch et al (2014) and Martínez-Valladares et al (2015). The study by Vadlejch et al (2014), Gunathilaka et al 2018 andVineer et al (2020) point out that biosecurity conditions must be observed on each farm to prevent the spread of infectious diseases outside the farm.Although our study did not show a change in the condition of the animal before and after treatment, the study by Cerda et al (2019) shows a completely opposite case for fluke infection in a herd.…”

Prevalence of Fasciola hepatica and Calicophoron spp. in extensively reared cattle in the Florida district (Amazonas), Peru

“…Formas parasitarias de F. hepatica se han reportado incluso en hospedadores intermediarios por debajo de los 400 msnm (35) y hasta los 4,500 m (36) . Por su parte, Calicophoron microbothrioides se puede ubicar por debajo de los 200 m y también en zonas montañosas sobre los 3,000 m, donde existe disponibilidad de agua estancada para el ciclo de los hospedadores intermediarios, áreas usadas para la ganadería (37) .…”

“…En América del Sur, se ha descrito a Cotylophoron cotylophorum en Colombia (49) , Cotylophoron marajoensis n. sp. en Brazil (49) y C. microbothrioides en Chile (37) . Así como en el continente americano, se ha reportado la presencia de ambos trematodos en países europeos (50,51,52) , africanos (34,26,38) , asiáticos (53) , etc.…”