Viscardi Maurizio, Santoro Mario, Cozzolino Loredana, Borriello Giorgia, Fusco Giovanna
Department of Animal Health, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Mezzogiorno, Portici, Italy.
Department of Integrative Marine Ecology, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Naples, Italy.
Transbound Emerg Dis. 2022 Mar;69(2):874-880. doi: 10.1111/tbed.14012. Epub 2021 May 16.
Toxoplasmosis, caused by the protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii, is a widespread zoonosis capable to affect a wide range of warm-blooded vertebrates. In the past two decades, T. gondii emerged as a significant aquatic pathogen with some pathogenic atypical genotypes isolated and characterized from stranded marine mammals. In contrast, no information is available for mammals in freshwater environment. Although otters are considered highly susceptible to T. gondii infection, to date molecular evidence of T. gondii in Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra) does not exist. We report the first molecular evidence of T. gondii in a free-ranging Eurasian otter from southern Italy and characterized the present strain as a genotype type II variant, with all loci type II except PK1 (locus sequence corresponding to type II variant B), B1 (locus sequence corresponding to type II/X A) and C29-2 (locus with SNPs). Our results indicate circulation of a type II variant in freshwater environment which suggests potential risk of transmission to animals and humans. The finding of a potential pathogenic strain is of great concern for future conservation programmes of the critically endangered Eurasian otter in southern Italy.
弓形虫病由原生动物寄生虫刚地弓形虫引起，是一种广泛传播的人畜共患病，能够感染多种温血脊椎动物。在过去二十年中，刚地弓形虫成为一种重要的水生病原体，已从搁浅的海洋哺乳动物中分离并鉴定出一些具有致病性的非典型基因型。相比之下，关于淡水环境中哺乳动物的相关信息却尚无报道。尽管水獭被认为对刚地弓形虫感染高度易感，但迄今为止，尚未发现欧亚水獭（Lutra lutra）感染刚地弓形虫的分子证据。我们报告了首例来自意大利南部野生欧亚水獭感染刚地弓形虫的分子证据，并将该菌株鉴定为II型变体基因型，除PK1（对应于II型变体B的基因座序列）、B1（对应于II/X A的基因座序列）和C29-2（具有单核苷酸多态性的基因座）外，所有基因座均为II型。我们的研究结果表明，II型变体在淡水环境中传播，这提示了其向动物和人类传播的潜在风险。发现潜在的致病菌株对于意大利南部极度濒危的欧亚水獭未来的保护计划而言至关重要。
