Echinococcus oligarthrus in the subtropical region of Argentina, first integration of morphological and molecular analyzes determines two distinct populations

ARRABAL J; ROSENZVIT M C

Veterinary Parasitology

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Año: 2017

Echinococcosis is a parasitic zoonosis that is considered as a neglected disease bythe World Health Organization. The species Echinococcus oligarthrus is one of thecausative agents of Neotropical echinococcosis, which is a poorly understood disease thatrequires a complex medical examination, may threaten human life, and is frequentlyassociated with a low socioeconomic status. Morphological and genetic diversity in E.oligarthrus remains unknown. The aim of this work is to identify and characterize E.oligarthrus infections in sylvatic animals from the Upper Paraná Atlantic Forest in theprovince of Misiones, Argentina, by following an integrative approach that linksmorphological, genetic and ecological aspects. This study demonstrates, for the first time,one of the complete life cycles of E. oligarthrus in an important ecoregion. The UpperParaná Atlantic Forest constitutes the largest remnant continuous forest of the AtlanticForest, representing 7% of the world?s biodiversity. This is the first moleculardetermination of E. oligarthrus in Argentina. In addition, the agouti (Dasyprocta azarae),the ocelot (Leopardus pardalis) and the puma (Puma concolor) were identified as sylvatichosts of Neotropical echinococcosis caused by E. oligarthrus. Mitochondrial and nuclearmolecular marker analyses showed a high genetic diversity in E. oligarthrus. Moreover, thegenetic distance found among E. oligarthrus isolates is higher than the one observed amongEchinococcus granulosus genotypes, which clearly indicates that there are at least twodifferent E. oligarthrus populations in Argentina. This study provides valuable informationto understand the underlying conditions that favour the maintenance of E. oligarthrus insylvatic cycles and to evaluate its zoonotic significance for devising preventive measuresfor human and animal wellbeing.