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Red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) and wild dogs (dingoes (Canis lupus dingo) and dingo/domestic dog hybrids), as sylvatic hosts for Australian Taenia hydatigena and Taenia ovis.

ABSTRACT: Foxes (n = 499), shot during vertebrate pest control programs, were collected in various sites in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), New South Wales (NSW) and Western Australia (WA). Wild dogs (dingoes (Canis lupus dingo) and their hybrids with domestic dogs) (n = 52) captured also as part of vertebrate pest control programs were collected from several sites in the ACT and NSW. The intestine from each fox and wild dog was collected, and all Taenia tapeworms identified morphologically were collected and identified to species based on the DNA sequence of the small subunit of the mitochondrial ribosomal RNA (rrnS) gene. Taenia species were recovered from 6.0% of the ACT/NSW foxes, 5.1% of WA foxes and 46.1% of ACT/NSW wild dogs. Taenia ovis was recovered from two foxes, 1/80 from Jugiong, NSW and 1/102 from Katanning, WA. We confirm from rrnS sequences the presence of T. ovis in cysts from hearts and diaphragms and T aenia hydatigena in cysts from livers of sheep in Australia. T. ovis was not recovered from any of the wild dogs examined but T. hydatigena were recovered from 4(8.3%) wild dogs and a single fox. With foxes identified as a definitive host for T. ovis in Australia, new control strategies to stop transmission of T. ovis to sheep need to be adopted.

SUBMITTER: Jenkins DJ

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4142264 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) and wild dogs (dingoes (Canis lupus dingo) and dingo/domestic dog hybrids), as sylvatic hosts for Australian Taenia hydatigena and Taenia ovis.

Jenkins David J DJ Urwin Nigel A R NA Williams Thomas M TM Mitchell Kate L KL Lievaart Jan J JJ Armua-Fernandez Maria Teresa MT

International journal for parasitology. Parasites and wildlife 20140330 2

Foxes (n = 499), shot during vertebrate pest control programs, were collected in various sites in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), New South Wales (NSW) and Western Australia (WA). Wild dogs (dingoes (Canis lupus dingo) and their hybrids with domestic dogs) (n = 52) captured also as part of vertebrate pest control programs were collected from several sites in the ACT and NSW. The intestine from each fox and wild dog was collected, and all Taenia tapeworms identified morphologically were c ...[more]

PMID: 25161904

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Project description:BACKGROUND: Hepatozoon canis is a protozoan tick-borne pathogen of dogs and wild canids. Hepatozoon spp. have been reported to infect foxes in different continents and recent studies have mostly used the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for the detection and characterization of the infecting species. Surveying red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) may contribute to better understanding the epidemiology of canine vector-borne diseases, including hepatozoonosis caused by H. canis in domestic dogs. The present study investigated the prevalence of Hepatozoon spp. by means of histopathology and molecular analysis of different tissues in red foxes from different parts of Portugal. METHODS: Blood and tissues including bone marrow, heart, hind leg muscle, jejunum, kidney, liver, lung, popliteal or axillary lymph nodes, spleen and/or tongue were collected from 91 red foxes from eight districts in northern, central and southern Portugal. Tissues were formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded, cut and stained with hematoxylin and eosin. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplified a ~650 bp fragment of the 18S rRNA gene of Hepatozoon spp. and the DNA products were sequenced. RESULTS: Hepatozoon canis was detected in 68 out of 90 foxes (75.6%) from all the sampled areas by PCR and sequencing. Histopathology revealed H. canis meronts similar in shape to those found in dogs in the bone marrow of 11 (23.4%) and in the spleen of two (4.3%) out of 47 foxes (p = 0.007). All the 11 foxes found positive by histopathology were also positive by PCR of bone marrow and/or blood. Positivity by PCR (83.0%) was significantly higher (p < 0.001) than by histopathological examination (23.4%) in paired bone marrow samples from the same 47 foxes. Sequences of the 18S rRNA gene of H. canis were 98-99% identical to those in GenBank. CONCLUSIONS: Hepatozoon canis was found to be highly prevalent in red fox populations from northern, central and southern Portugal. Detection of the parasite by histopathology was significantly less sensitive than by PCR. Red foxes are a presumptive reservoir of H. canis infection for domestic dogs.

Project description:In this study, 263 tapeworms were collected from eight road-killed red foxes in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR, northwestern China). The tapeworms were analyzed based on morphological characters and mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (cox1) gene sequences. Eighty-three Taenia and 180 Mesocestoides tapeworms were identified according to the presence or absence of rostellum, and the number, the length and the shape of the large rostellar hooks. The morphological and molecular analyses revealed that i) 180 Mesocestoides tapeworms, here named as Mesocestoides sp. (Vulpes vulpes), showed 99.21% (378/381 bp) identity to Mesocestoides sp. reported from red fox in Mongolia; and ii) 83 Taenia tapeworms belonged to three species. The first Taenia species [n = 16, named as Taenia sp. (Vulpes vulpes)], based on the length of large rostellar hooks (337-342 μm) and its cox1 sequence, was identified as a potentially novel species, which is phylogenetically close to Taenia laticollis. The second species [n = 54, named as Taenia sp. (Vulpes vulpes & Rhombomys opimus)], was morphologically similar to Taenia endothoracicus according to the number (n = 52), the length (319-332 μm) and the shape of the large rostellar hooks. This species, infecting three red foxes, shared 100% cox1 sequence identity with Taenia sp. (Rhombomys opimus) genotype C found previously in great gerbils (Rhombomys opimus) in the same region. The third species (n = 13, named as Taenia polyacantha-like), had shorter large rostellar hooks (178-180 μm) and showed 96.27% (361/375 bp) sequence identity to Taenia polyacantha reported from red fox in Italy. The "great gerbil-red fox" life cycle of Taenia sp. (Vulpes vulpes & Rhombomys opimus), belonging to the mitochondrial lineage of T. endothoracicus, is confirmed. The T. polyacantha-like species was firstly found in red fox in China. Taenia sp. (Vulpes vulpes) is a potentially novel species, which is close to T. laticollis based on its phylogenetic properties.

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Dataset Information

Red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) and wild dogs (dingoes (Canis lupus dingo) and dingo/domestic dog hybrids), as sylvatic hosts for Australian Taenia hydatigena and Taenia ovis.

Publications

Red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) and wild dogs (dingoes (Canis lupus dingo) and dingo/domestic dog hybrids), as sylvatic hosts for Australian Taenia hydatigena and Taenia ovis.

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