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Diaz E, Hidalgo A, Villamarin C, Donoso G, Barragan V. Vector-borne zoonotic blood parasites in wildlife from Ecuador: A report and systematic review. Vet World 2021; 14:1935-1945. [PMID: 34475720 PMCID: PMC8404139 DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2021.1935-1945] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2021] [Accepted: 06/10/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Background and Aim: Ecuador is a hugely diverse country, but information on infectious diseases in local wild animals is scarce. The aim of this study was to screen the presence of blood parasites in free-ranging wild animals admitted to the Wildlife Hospital at Universidad San Francisco de Quito, from April 2012 to January 2019. Materials and Methods: We identified blood parasites by microscopic observation of blood smears from free-ranging wildlife species that attended the Wildlife Hospital of Universidad San Francisco de Quito (Ecuador) from April 2012 to January 2019. Results: The microscopic evaluations of animals as potential reservoirs for vector-borne zoonotic blood parasites revealed the presence of Anaplasma spp., Babesia spp., Ehrlichia spp., Hepatozoon spp., microfilaria, Mycoplasma spp., and Trypanosoma spp. in previously unreported wildlife species. In addition, we performed a systematic review to understand the current knowledge gaps in the context of these findings. Conclusion: Our data contribute to the knowledge of blood parasites in wildlife from Ecuador. Furthermore, the potential transmission of these parasites to humans and domestic animals, current anthropogenic environmental changes in the region, and the lack of information on this suggest the importance of our results and warrant further investigations on infectious diseases in animals and humans and their relationship with environmental health as key domains of the One Health concept.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eduardo Diaz
- Escuela de Veterinaria, Hospital de Fauna Silvestre TUERI, Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Quito, Ecuador
| | - Anahi Hidalgo
- Escuela de Veterinaria, Hospital de Fauna Silvestre TUERI, Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Quito, Ecuador
| | - Carla Villamarin
- Colegio de Ciencias Biologicas y Ambientales, Instituto de Microbiologia, Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Quito, Ecuador
| | - Gustavo Donoso
- Escuela de Veterinaria, Hospital de Fauna Silvestre TUERI, Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Quito, Ecuador
| | - Veronica Barragan
- Colegio de Ciencias Biologicas y Ambientales, Instituto de Microbiologia, Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Quito, Ecuador.,Department of Biological Science, Pathogen and Microbiome Institute, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, USA
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Description of a New Species Hepatozoon quagliattus sp. nov. (Apicomplexa: Adeleorina: Hepatozoidae), infecting the Sleep Snake, Dipsas mikanii (Squamata: Colubridae: Dipsadinae) from Goiás State, Brazil. Acta Parasitol 2021; 66:871-880. [PMID: 33683553 DOI: 10.1007/s11686-021-00355-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2020] [Accepted: 02/13/2021] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
PURPOSE Species of Hepatozoon Miller, 1908 (Hepatozoidae) are blood protozoans with a cosmopolitan distribution and are reported to parasitize a range of vertebrate hosts including mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians. The present study aimed to describe a new species of Hepatozoon (Apicomplexa: Adeleorina: Hepatozoidae) found infecting the sleep snake Dipsas mikanii (Schlegel, 1837) (Squamata: Colubridae: Dipsadinae). METHODS The snake was collected in 2017 at the municipality of Britânia, Goiás State, Brazil. Blood smears were made in order to find blood gametocytes and PCR was performed targeting the 18S rRNA gene. RESULTS Microscopy screening of blood smears revealed the presence of intraerythrocytic gamont stages of Hepatozoon sp. in the peripheral blood with a parasitemia of 0.25%. Furthermore, meronts and monozoic cysts were observed in histological sections of the liver from the infected individual. The interspecific divergence of 18S rRNA sequences fragments isolated from D. mikanii had differences (2.39-11.3%) as compared to other sequences of species of Hepatozoon from snakes. CONCLUSIONS Based on morphological and molecular data, a new species of Hepatozoon infecting D. mikanii from Brazil is described.
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Duszynski DW, McAllister CT, Tellez M. The Coccidia (Apicomplexa) of the Archosauria (Crocodylia: Eusuchia) of the World. J Parasitol 2020. [DOI: 10.1645/19-73] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Donald W. Duszynski
- Professor Emeritus of Biology, 76 Homesteads Road, Placitas, New Mexico 87043
| | - Chris T. McAllister
- Science and Mathematics Division, Eastern Oklahoma State College, Idabel, Oklahoma 74745
| | - Marisa Tellez
- Crocodile Research Coalition, Belize and Marine Science Institute, University of California–Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California 93106
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Bouer A, André MR, Gonçalves LR, Luzzi MDC, Oliveira JPD, Rodrigues AC, Varani ADM, Miranda VFOD, Perles L, Werther K, Machado RZ. Hepatozoon caimani in Caiman crocodilus yacare (Crocodylia, Alligatoridae) from North Pantanal, Brazil. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2017; 26:352-358. [PMID: 28902260 DOI: 10.1590/s1984-29612017041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2017] [Accepted: 06/29/2017] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Hepatozoon species are the most common intracellular hemoparasite found in reptiles. Hepatozoon caimani, whose vectors are Culex mosquitoes, has been detected in a high prevalence among caimans in Brazil by blood smears examinations. The present work aimed to detect and characterize the Hepatozoon spp. found in 33 caimans (24 free-ranging and 9 captive; 28 males and 5 females) (Caiman crocodilus yacare) sampled at Poconé, North Pantanal, state of Mato Grosso, Brazil, using blood smears examinations and molecular techniques. Hepatozoon spp.-gametocytes were found in 70.8% (17/24) and 88.8% (8/9) of blood smears from free-ranging and captive caimans, respectively. Hepatozoon spp. 18S rRNA DNA was found in 79.2% (19/24) and 88.8% (8/9) of free-ranging and captive caimans, respectively. Comparative analysis of parasitized and non-parasitized erythrocytes showed that all analyzed features were significantly different (P<0.05) for both linear and area dimensions. Phylogenetic analysis based on 18S rRNA sequences grouped the Hepatozoon spp. sequences detected in the present study together with H. caimani, recently detected in caimans in southern Pantanal.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andréa Bouer
- Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias - FCAV, Universidade Estadual Paulista - UNESP, Jaboticabal, SP, Brasil
| | - Marcos Rogério André
- Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias - FCAV, Universidade Estadual Paulista - UNESP, Jaboticabal, SP, Brasil
| | - Luiz Ricardo Gonçalves
- Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias - FCAV, Universidade Estadual Paulista - UNESP, Jaboticabal, SP, Brasil
| | - Mayara de Cássia Luzzi
- Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias - FCAV, Universidade Estadual Paulista - UNESP, Jaboticabal, SP, Brasil
| | - Juliana Paula de Oliveira
- Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias - FCAV, Universidade Estadual Paulista - UNESP, Jaboticabal, SP, Brasil
| | - Adriana Carlos Rodrigues
- Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias - FCAV, Universidade Estadual Paulista - UNESP, Jaboticabal, SP, Brasil
| | - Alessandro de Melo Varani
- Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias - FCAV, Universidade Estadual Paulista - UNESP, Jaboticabal, SP, Brasil
| | | | - Lívia Perles
- Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias - FCAV, Universidade Estadual Paulista - UNESP, Jaboticabal, SP, Brasil
| | - Karin Werther
- Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias - FCAV, Universidade Estadual Paulista - UNESP, Jaboticabal, SP, Brasil
| | - Rosangela Zacarias Machado
- Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias - FCAV, Universidade Estadual Paulista - UNESP, Jaboticabal, SP, Brasil
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Morphological and molecular characterization of Ortleppascaris sinensis sp. nov. (Nematoda: Ascaridoidea) from the Chinese alligator Alligator sinensis. J Helminthol 2015; 90:303-11. [PMID: 25882968 DOI: 10.1017/s0022149x15000255] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
A new nematode species, Ortleppascaris sinensis sp. nov. (Ascaridoidea), is described from specimens found in the stomach and intestine of the Chinese alligator Alligator sinensis Fauvel, 1879 (Crocodilian: Alligatoridae) in the National Nature Reserve of Chinese Alligator (Chinese Crocodile Lake) in Anhui Province, China. This is the first description of O. sinensis sp. nov. in both China and this crocodile host, increasing its distribution in South Asia as well as expanding the number of helminths known to infect this crocodile. The detailed description of O. sinensis sp. nov., based on light and scanning electron microscopic examination, provides new taxonomic data for this species, and we also report sequences of the internal transcribed spacers (ITS), small subunit DNA segments (18S) and the cytochrome oxidase I (COI) gene.
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Netherlands EC, Cook CA, Smit NJ. Hepatozoon species (Adeleorina: Hepatozoidae) of African bufonids, with morphological description and molecular diagnosis of Hepatozoon ixoxo sp. nov. parasitising three Amietophrynus species (Anura: Bufonidae). Parasit Vectors 2014; 7:552. [PMID: 25526644 PMCID: PMC4298072 DOI: 10.1186/s13071-014-0552-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2014] [Accepted: 11/21/2014] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Haemogregarines comprise a large group of apicomplexan blood parasites. In 1996 all anuran haemogregarines still in the genus Haemogregarina Danilewsky, 1885 were reassigned to the genus Hepatozoon Miller, 1908. Most (11/15, 73%) African anuran Hepatozoon species have been recorded from the family Bufonidae, however, all these are recorded from only two host species, Amietophrynus mauritanicus (Schlegel, 1841) and Amietophrynus regularis (Reuss, 1833) from Northern and central Africa. To the authors’ knowledge the only description of an anuran haemogregarine from South Africa is Hepatozoon theileri (Laveran, 1905), parasitising Amietia quecketti (Boulenger, 1895). Methods Thin blood smears for morphometrics and whole blood for molecular work, were collected from 32 Amietophrynus garmani (Meek, 1897), 12 Amietophrynus gutturalis (Power, 1927), and nine Amietophrynus maculatus (Hallowell, 1854), in Ndumo Game Reserve and Kwa Nyamazane Conservancy, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Smears were Giemsa-stained, screened for haemogregarines, parasite stages measured, compared to each other and to other described African bufonid haemogregarines. Parasite 18S rDNA was amplified using two apicomplexan-specific primer sets, HepF300/HepR900 and 4558/2733. Resulting sequences of the haemogregarine isolates from the three Amietophrynus species were compared with each other and to comparative haemogregarine sequences selected from GenBank. Results Morphological characteristics of parasite stages, in particular characteristically capped mature gamont stages, and molecular findings, supported all three haemogregarine isolates from all three Amietophrynus species to be the same, a species of Hepatozoon, and furthermore different morphologically from other previously recorded bufonid Hepatozoon species. The haemogregarine fell within a clade comprising other anuran Hepatozoon species and furthermore, within a monophyletic sub-clade along with H. theileri and are described as Hepatozoon ixoxo sp. nov. Conclusions This is the first morphological and molecular account of Hepatozoon species within the family Bufonidae from South Africa, a study hoped to encourage the redescription and molecular analysis of those Hepatozoon species described in the past from Amietophrynus species, as well as to promote the use of both morphological and molecular characteristics in Hepatozoon species descriptions. This will aid in comprehensive Hepatozoon descriptions, which along with the use of phylogenetic analysis will give a better indication of these parasites possible vectors and life cycle dynamics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Edward C Netherlands
- Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa.
| | - Courtney A Cook
- Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa.
| | - Nico J Smit
- Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa.
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Pereira GR, Soares P, Gomes MQ, Viana LA, Manso PPDA, Machado MP, Paiva F, Lourenço-de-Oliveira R. Are fish paratenic natural hosts of the caiman haemoparasite Hepatozoon caimani? Parasitol Res 2013; 113:39-45. [PMID: 24142284 DOI: 10.1007/s00436-013-3623-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2013] [Accepted: 09/23/2013] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
The susceptibility of two fish and four mosquito species to the Caiman yacare haemoparasite Hepatozoon caimani was experimentally investigated. Mosquitoes belonging to four species (Aedes fluviatilis, Aedes albopictus, Aedes aegypti and Culex quinquefasciatus) were blood-fed on two naturally infected C. yacare from the Central-West Region of Brazil that exhibited distinct levels of parasitaemia: caimans A (11.05%) and B (1.25%). None of the engorged A. fluviatilis, A. albopictus or A. aegypti mosquitoes fed on caiman A survived for the duration of the sporogonic cycle; the great majority of the engorged mosquitoes died within 48 h of the blood meal. All A. aegypti fed on caiman B were negative, whereas 91.3% of dissected C. quinquefasciatus fed on the same caiman contained oocysts. Characid fish-Metynnis sp. and Astyanax sp.-were individually fed with C. quinquefasciatus females previously engorged (21-23 days) on caiman B. No parasite was found in the Astyanax fish. By contrast, 100% of the Metynnis fish depicted numerous cysts harbouring cystozoites identical to those of H. caimani, even more than 8 months after the ingestion of the infected mosquitoes. The cysts were located near the veins of the liver and, in some cases, close to the tunica intima of these vessels. No inflammatory reaction was observed. Gametocytes were observed in the blood smears of juvenile caimans that had ingested infected fish 9-12 weeks earlier. The potential role of fish as paratenic vertebrate hosts of H. caimani in nature is discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Glauber Rocha Pereira
- Laboratório de Transmissores de Hematozoários, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz-Fiocruz, Av. Brasil 4365, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
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Sloboda M, Kamler M, Bulantová J, Votýpka J, Modrý D. A new species of Hepatozoon (Apicomplexa: Adeleorina) from Python regius (Serpentes: Pythonidae) and its experimental transmission by a mosquito vector. J Parasitol 2008; 93:1189-98. [PMID: 18163356 DOI: 10.1645/ge-1200r.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 60] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Hepatozoon ayorgbor n. sp. is described from specimens of Python regius imported from Ghana. Gametocytes were found in the peripheral blood of 43 of 55 snakes examined. Localization of gametocytes was mainly inside the erythrocytes; free gametocytes were found in 15 (34.9%) positive specimens. Infections of laboratory-reared Culex quinquefasciatus feeding on infected snakes, as well as experimental infection of juvenile Python regius by ingestion of infected mosquitoes, were performed to complete the life cycle. Similarly, transmission to different snake species (Boa constrictor and Lamprophis fuliginosus) and lizards (Lepidodactylus lugubris) was performed to assess the host specificity. Isolates were compared with Hepatozoon species from sub-Saharan reptiles and described as a new species based on the morphology, phylogenetic analysis, and a complete life cycle.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michal Sloboda
- Department of Parasitology, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Brno, Czech Republic.
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