School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington, Loughborough, LE12 5RD, UK.
Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, Institute of Epidemiology, Greifswald-Insel Riems, Germany.
Parasit Vectors. 2020 Jun 3;13(1):279. doi: 10.1186/s13071-020-04145-8.
The involvement of Besnoitia bennetti in skin pathologies was investigated in a series of 20 donkeys from the Donkey Sanctuary in England, in the 2013-2019 period.
The initial histopathological finding of Besnoitia cysts in skin lumps that were presumed to be sarcoids in 2013 triggered our cognisance of this parasite and resulted in identification of a total of 20 cases. Histopathological examination of surgical biopsy samples collected from 8 live donkeys and tissue specimens from 12 deceased donkeys at post-mortem examination revealed the presence of Besnoitia cysts in all 20 donkeys. The indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT) and immunoblotting analysis showed the presence of anti-Besnoitia antibodies in archived serum samples from 4 deceased donkeys. Additionally, infection was evidenced in one live donkey based on IFAT and immunoblot analysis of tissue fluid of a dermal mass containing Besnoitia cysts, and real-time (RT)-PCR analysis and microsatellite genotyping of DNA isolated from the tissue of the same dermal mass confirmed the infection specifically as B. bennetti.
Both serological and microsatellite analyses confirmed the aetiology to be B. bennetti. Our findings suggested that in cases of skin masses such as sarcoids, the suspicion of B. bennetti infection should be borne in mind even when clinical and histopathology examination results are negative in order to avoid misdiagnosis.
This case series documents, to our knowledge, the first report of B. bennetti infection in donkeys in the UK, indicating that donkey besnoitiosis has become noteworthy in the UK. Further investigations of the occurrence, epidemiological characteristics, and clinical manifestations of B. bennetti infection in donkeys and other equids are warranted.
在 2013 年至 2019 年期间，对来自英国慈善协会的 20 头驴进行了一系列研究，以调查贝氏巴贝斯虫（Besnoitia bennetti）在皮肤病变中的作用。
2013 年，我们首次在疑似皮肤结节（即肉瘤）的皮肤肿块中发现了贝氏巴贝斯虫包囊，这引起了我们对该寄生虫的认识，并最终确诊了 20 例病例。对 8 头活驴的外科活检样本和 12 头死后驴的组织样本进行组织病理学检查，结果显示所有 20 头驴均存在贝氏巴贝斯虫包囊。间接荧光抗体试验（IFAT）和免疫印迹分析显示，4 头死亡驴的存档血清样本中存在抗贝氏巴贝斯虫抗体。此外，基于 IFAT 和含有贝氏巴贝斯虫包囊的皮肤肿块组织液的免疫印迹分析，对 1 头活驴进行了感染检测，实时（RT）-PCR 分析和从同一皮肤肿块组织中分离的 DNA 的微卫星基因分型证实了感染的具体类型为贝氏巴贝斯虫。
血清学和微卫星分析均证实病因是贝氏巴贝斯虫。我们的研究结果表明，在出现皮肤肿块（如肉瘤）的情况下，即使临床和组织病理学检查结果为阴性，也应考虑到贝氏巴贝斯虫感染的可能性，以避免误诊。
本病例系列报告据我们所知，首次在英国报道了驴的贝氏巴贝斯虫感染，表明英国的驴巴贝斯虫病已引起关注。有必要进一步调查驴和其他马属动物中贝氏巴贝斯虫感染的发生、流行病学特征和临床表现。
