The first records of Spirometra erinaceieuropaei (Cestoda: Diphyllobothriidae), a causative agent of human sparganosis, in Latvian wildlife

Abstract

Diphyllobothriid tapeworms of the genus Spirometra are causative agents of sparganosis, food-borne zoonotic parasitic disease. They have been recorded in broad spectrum of hosts, including humans, in all continents except Antarctica. Spirometra tapeworms have been intensively studied in several Asian countries; however, they have been rather neglected in Europe. The aim of this study was to provide a pilot screening of Spirometra spp. in Latvia, where data on sparganosis are not available. Tapeworms morphologically identified as diphyllobothriid species were isolated from grey wolves Canis lupus and Eurasian lynxes Lynx lynx from Latvia during the hunting periods 2013–2019. The parasites were subjected to molecular genotyping using sequences of the partial large (LSU rDNA; 615 bp) and small (SSU rDNA; 720 bp) subunits of the nuclear ribosomal RNA gene and complete (1566 bp) cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene of the mitochondrial DNA (cox1 mtDNA). Analyses of both ribosomal subunits of 13 tapeworms revealed no intraspecific variation within the respective rDNA subunits. On the other hand, sequence analysis of mitochondrial cox1 revealed intraspecific polymorphism displayed by 12 cox1 haplotypes. Comparison of the current data with sequences of the corresponding DNA regions deposited in the GenBank revealed 99.3–99.5% (LSU rDNA), 99.2% (SSU rDNA) and 99.6–100% (cox1 mtDNA) identity of studied tapeworms with Spirometra erinaceieuropaei, which provided the first confirmation of this diphyllobothriid tapeworm in Latvia. Since S. erinaceieuropaei is probably prevalent in Latvian wildlife and may also occur in other potential host species, further studies are needed in order to acquire complex data on its geographic distribution and transmission in the natural environment of Latvia, as well as on the spectrum of its intermediate, paratenic, and definitive hosts.

Molecular Diet Analysis of Adélie Penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae) in the Ross Sea Using Fecal DNA

“…Moreover, parasite composition should be further monitored to estimate the health condition of Adélie penguins. Although Dibothriocephalus , Adenocephalus , and Diphyllobothrium are considered commensal parasites, the larva of some Spirometra can cause life-threatening diseases to host species [ 41 ]. Therefore, monitoring them with the use of molecular tools would be important not only in terms of their ecological implications but also for the sustainability of penguin colonies.…”

New Insights into Gastrointestinal and Pulmonary Parasitofauna of Wild Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) in the Harz Mountains of Germany

“…The former is an interesting finding, considering that HM lynxes were not yet observed to consume fish [30]. Pseudophyllidean infections with neglected zoonotic-relevant species such as Dibothriocephalus latus, Spirometra janickii and Spirometra erinaceieuropae were already described in Eurasian lynx [10,12] and, thus, demanding improved surveillance.…”

“…In the monitoring year 2019/20, the HM population consisted of at least 71 independent adult lynxes and 38 juveniles [5], inhabiting an area in and around the HM (2200 km 2 ), of which 247 km 2 belonged to the Harz National Park (HNP) [1,6,7]. Eurasian lynx endoparasite fauna has been investigated in some European countries, such as Poland, Finland, Latvia, Estonia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Slovakia, Sweden and Switzerland, where autochthonous and reintroduced lynx populations exist [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] (Table 2). Mostly, these studies focused on helminth parasites and analysed necropsied animals [9,14,19].…”

Genetic interrelationships of Spirometra erinaceieuropaei (Cestoda: Diphyllobothriidea), the causative agent of sparganosis in Europe

“…Genomic DNA was isolated from 20 mg of tissue of the distal part of tapeworm using a QIAamp ® DNA Kit (QIAGEN, Hilden, Germany), according to the manufacturer’s instructions, diluted in deionized water and stored at −20 °C. Details of PCR amplification, sequencing, sequence assembly and sequence analyses were published previously [ 1 ]. The anterior part of each tapeworm was stained and mounted on microscopic slides as morphological voucher and was deposited in the Helminthological Collection of the Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, České Budějovice, Czech Republic (IPCAS No.…”

“…In the past two decades, the occurrence of S. erinaceieuropaei in wild carnivores, mustelids, wild boars, and snakes has been reported in several northern and eastern European countries, mainly in the vicinity of the Białowieża National Park in eastern Poland [ 4 – 9 , 14 ] and in western Belarus [ 22 , 24 , 25 ], but also in Serbia [ 17 ], Estonia [ 10 ], Latvia [ 1 ], Ukraine, and Finland [ 11 , 14 , 15 ]. The genetic structure of S. erinaceieuropaei based on the mitochondrial cox 1 gene is so far available only for the populations from Poland and Latvia [ 1 , 7 ] and only single sequences were published for tapeworms from Finland and Ukraine [ 14 , 15 ].…”