Echinococcus multilocularis in a Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) in Turkey

AVCIOĞLU H., GÜVEN E., BALKAYA İ., KİRMAN R.

PARASITOLOGY, vol.145, no.9, pp.1147-1150, 2018 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 145 Issue: 9
  • Publication Date: 2018
  • Doi Number: 10.1017/s0031182018000082
  • Journal Name: PARASITOLOGY
  • Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus
  • Page Numbers: pp.1147-1150
  • Keywords: Echinococcus multilocularis, Eurasian lynx, PCR, Turkey, VETERINARY PUBLIC-HEALTH, HIGH PREVALENCE, TAENIID EGGS, CATS, FECES, PCR, DNA, IDENTIFICATION, EPIDEMIOLOGY, SURVEILLANCE
  • Ataturk University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

Echinococcus multilocularis is the causative agent of alveolar echinococcosis (AE), one of the most threatening zoonoses in Eurasia. Human AE is widespread in the Erzurum region of Turkey, but the situation of the disease in intermediate and definitive hosts is unknown. A Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) was killed in a traffic accident in the north of Erzurum, and was taken to our laboratory. Sedimentation and counting technique (SCT), DNA isolation and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis were performed. The SCT results showed that the lynx was infected with E. multilocularis with a medium (745 worms) worm burden. The DNA of adult worms obtained from the lynx was analyzed with a species-specific PCR, and the worms were confirmed to be E. multilocularis by 12S rRNA gene sequence analysis. This is the first report of E. multilocularis from Eurasian lynx in Turkey.