CIBAV Research Group, Veterinary Medicine School, Faculty of Agrarian Sciences, University of Antioquia, Medellín, Antioquia, Colombia.
Institute of Parasitology, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Giessen, Hessen, Germany.
PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2019 Apr 19;13(4):e0007277. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0007277. eCollection 2019 Apr.
Several metastrongyloid lungworms are unreported pathogens in Colombia. Angiostrongylus vasorum and Crenosoma vulpis target the cardiopulmonary system of domestic and wild canids. Aelurostrongylus abstrusus and Troglostrongylus brevior infect felids and considering that six wild felid species exist in Colombia, knowledge of feline lungworm infections is important for their conservation. The zoonotic metastrongyloids Angiostrongylus costaricensis and Angiostrongylus cantonensis can cause severe gastrointestinal and neurological diseases. Angiostrongylus costaricensis has been reported in Colombia, while Ang. cantonensis is present in neighbouring countries. Research on the epidemiology of metastrongyloids in Colombia and South America more broadly requires evaluating the role that gastropods play as intermediate hosts in their life cycles. This study assessed the prevalence of metastrongyloid larvae in populations of the invasive giant African snail, Lissachatina fulica, in Colombia.
METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: A total of 609 Lissachantina fulica were collected from 6 Colombian municipalities. The snails were then cryo-euthanized, artificially digested and the sediments examined microscopically for the presence of metastrongyloid larvae. Based on morphological characteristics 53.3% (56/107) of the snails from Puerto Leguízamo (Department of Putumayo) were infected with Ael. abstrusus larvae, 8.4% (9/107) with Ang. vasorum larvae, 6.5% (7/107) with T. brevior larvae and 5.6% (6/107) with C. vulpis larvae, being the region with highest prevalences of the four species. Snails from Andes (Department of Antioquia) and Tulúa (Department of Valle del Cauca) were positive for Ang. vasorum larvae with a prevalence of 4.6 (11/238) and 6.3% (4/64), respectively. Species identifications were confirmed by PCR and sequencing.
CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: This epidemiological survey reports for first time the presence of Ael. abstrusus, T. brevior, C. vulpis and Ang. vasorum in L. fulica in a number of regions of Colombia.
几种支旋螺科肺线虫是在哥伦比亚尚未报道的病原体。犬心丝虫和犬肺线虫靶向犬科动物的心肺系统。猫肺线虫和短圆属线虫感染猫科动物，考虑到哥伦比亚有六种野生猫科动物，了解猫科动物肺线虫感染对它们的保护非常重要。人畜共患的支旋螺科线虫包括安氏旋尾线虫和广州管圆线虫，可引起严重的胃肠道和神经系统疾病。安氏旋尾线虫已在哥伦比亚报道，而广州管圆线虫存在于邻国。研究哥伦比亚和更广泛的南美洲支旋螺科线虫的流行病学需要评估腹足类动物在其生命周期中作为中间宿主的作用。本研究评估了入侵性巨型非洲蜗牛（Lissachatina fulica）在哥伦比亚种群中支旋螺科幼虫的流行情况。
方法/主要发现：共从哥伦比亚 6 个城市收集了 609 只非洲大蜗牛。然后将蜗牛冷冻处死，人工消化，并用显微镜检查沉淀物中是否存在支旋螺科幼虫。根据形态特征，来自普图马约省莱古兹阿穆（Puerto Leguízamo）的 107 只蜗牛中有 53.3%（56/107）感染了阿氏肺线虫幼虫，8.4%（9/107）感染了犬心丝虫幼虫，6.5%（7/107）感染了短圆属线虫幼虫，5.6%（6/107）感染了犬肺线虫幼虫，该地区是这四个物种的最高流行率地区。来自安蒂奥基亚省（Antioquia）的安第斯山脉（Andes）和考卡山谷省（Valle del Cauca）的图卢亚（Tulúa）的蜗牛感染了犬心丝虫幼虫，流行率分别为 4.6%（11/238）和 6.3%（4/64）。通过 PCR 和测序确认了物种鉴定。
结论/意义：本流行病学调查首次报告了在哥伦比亚多个地区的非洲大蜗牛中存在阿氏肺线虫、短圆属线虫、犬肺线虫和犬心丝虫。
