Salim Mubashra, Khan Asmat Ullah, Niazi Alaudin Khan, Aqdas Amna, Dawoud Turki M, Usman Muhammad, Muqaddas Hira, Ullah Shakir, Belkahia Hanène, Khan Adil, Ben Said Mourad, Iqbal Furhan
Institute of Zoology, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Pakistan.
Department of Basic and Applied Zoology, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University, Sheringal, Dir Upper, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.
Front Vet Sci. 2025 Mar 31;12:1568298. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2025.1568298. eCollection 2025.
Despite Pakistan's rich amphibian fauna, frog and toad species remain largely unexplored regarding blood-borne parasites.
This study aims to investigate potential infections by and spp. in four amphibian species ( = 223) collected from various regions in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces.
Molecular analyses revealed that 17 out of 223 amphibians (7.6%) were infected with spp., with the highest infection rates found in (20.0%), followed by (9.3%) and (5.05%). DNA sequencing and BLAST analysis confirmed the presence of and sp. phylogenetic analysis of both pathogens demonstrated genetic diversity among the Pakistani isolates, clustering with isolates from birds, amphibians, and reptiles worldwide. To the best of our knowledge, this is first ever report globally where we are documenting that 4.5% of the screened Pakistani anurans, including frogs (, 8.1%) and toads (, 1.9%), were infected with -like strains. Parasite prevalence varied between sampling sites and amphibian species. This study represents the first report from Pakistan documenting the prevalence and genetic characterization of sp., sp., and -like strains among amphibians. We recommend conducting similar large-scale studies across various geo-climatic regions of Pakistan to further explore the epidemiology, genetic diversity, host-parasite interactions, and effective control of these pathogens among local frog and toad species. Identifying genetically related strains in unexpected host animals, such as amphibians, has been crucial for contributing to the elucidation of the parasite's evolutionary history.
尽管巴基斯坦拥有丰富的两栖动物种类，但青蛙和蟾蜍物种在血源寄生虫方面仍基本未被探索。
本研究旨在调查从旁遮普省和开伯尔-普赫图赫瓦省不同地区收集的四种两栖动物物种（n = 223）中是否存在 和 属物种的潜在感染情况。
分子分析显示，223只两栖动物中有17只（7.6%）感染了 属物种，其中 的感染率最高（20.0%），其次是 （9.3%）和 （5.05%）。DNA测序和BLAST分析证实了 和 属物种的存在。对这两种病原体的系统发育分析表明，巴基斯坦分离株之间存在遗传多样性，与全球鸟类、两栖动物和爬行动物的分离株聚类。据我们所知，这是全球首次报道，我们记录到4.5%的经筛选的巴基斯坦无尾目动物，包括青蛙（ ，8.1%）和蟾蜍（ ，1.9%），感染了 样菌株。寄生虫患病率在采样地点和两栖动物物种之间有所不同。本研究是巴基斯坦第一份记录两栖动物中 属物种、 属物种和 样菌株患病率及遗传特征的报告。我们建议在巴基斯坦不同的地理气候区域开展类似的大规模研究，以进一步探索这些病原体在当地青蛙和蟾蜍物种中的流行病学、遗传多样性、宿主-寄生虫相互作用及有效控制方法。在意外宿主动物（如两栖动物）中鉴定出与 属菌株有亲缘关系的菌株，对于阐明寄生虫的进化历史至关重要。
