Piroplasmosis in wildlife: Babesia and Theileria affecting free-ranging ungulates and carnivores in the Italian Alps

Particle and Fibre Toxicology

Ezio Ferroglio³  Maria Grazia Carpignano²  Christian Gortazar¹  Isabel Garcia Fernández de Mera¹  Elisa Bottero³  Anna Trisciuoglio³  Stefania Zanet³ 

[1] SaBio IREC CSIC UCLM JCCM, Ronda de Toledo s/n. 13071, Ciudad Real, Spain;Comprensorio Alpino Valli Grana e Maira, via Roma 28, 12025 Dronero, CN, Italy;Department of Veterinary Sciences, University of Turin, via Leonardo da Vinci, 44, 10095 Grugliasco, TO, Italy

关键词: Italy;    Wildlife;    PCR;    Theileria;    Babesia;    Piroplasmosis;   

Others  :  813976
DOI  :  10.1186/1756-3305-7-70

 received in 2013-12-13, accepted in 2014-01-29,  发布年份 2014

【 摘 要 】

Background

Piroplasmosis are among the most relevant diseases of domestic animals. Babesia is emerging as cause of tick-borne zoonosis worldwide and free-living animals are reservoir hosts of several zoonotic Babesia species. We investigated the epidemiology of Babesia spp. and Theileria spp. in wild ungulates and carnivores from Northern Italy to determine which of these apicomplexan species circulate in wildlife and their prevalence of infection.

Methods

PCR amplification of the V4 hyper-variable region of the 18S rDNA of Babesia sp./Theileria sp was carried out on spleen samples of 1036 wild animals: Roe deer Capreolus capreolus (n = 462), Red deer Cervus elaphus (n = 52), Alpine Chamois Rupicapra rupicapra (n = 36), Fallow deer Dama dama (n = 17), Wild boar Sus scrofa (n = 257), Red fox Vulpes vulpes (n = 205) and Wolf Canis lupus (n = 7). Selected positive samples were sequenced to determine the species of amplified Babesia/Theileria DNA.

Results

Babesia/Theileria DNA was found with a mean prevalence of 9.94% (IC95% 8.27-11.91). The only piroplasms found in carnivores was Theileria annae, which was detected in two foxes (0.98%; IC95% 0.27-3.49). Red deer showed the highest prevalence of infection (44.23%; IC95% 31.6-57.66), followed by Alpine chamois (22.22%; IC95% 11.71-38.08), Roe deer (12.55%; IC95% 9.84-15.89), and Wild boar (4.67%; IC95% 2.69-7.98). Genetic analysis identified Babesia capreoli as the most prevalent piroplasmid found in Alpine chamois, Roe deer and Red deer, followed by Babesia bigemina (found in Roe deer, Red deer and Wild boar), and the zoonotic Babesia venatorum (formerly Babesia sp. EU1) isolated from 2 Roe deer. Piroplasmids of the genus Theileria were identified in Wild boar and Red deer.

Conclusions

The present study offers novel insights into the role of wildlife in Babesia/Theileria epidemiology, as well as relevant information on genetic variability of piroplasmids infecting wild ungulates and carnivores.

【 授权许可】

   
2014 Zanet et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

【 图 表 】

Figure 1.

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