First detection ofEchinococcus multilocularisin rodent intermediate hosts in Turkey

• DOI: 10.1017/s0031182017001226
• Publication Date: 2017-08-11T12:35:31Z
• Authors: HAMZA AVCIOGLU; ESIN GUVEN; IBRAHIM BALKAYA; RIDVAN KIRMAN; MOHAMMED MEBAREK BIA; HATICE GULBEYEN; ALI KURT; SALI YAYA; SADIK DEMIRTAS
• Keywords: 0303 health sciences; Turkey; intermediate host; rodent; Animals, Wild; Rodentia; 3. Good health; Rodent Diseases; 03 medical and health sciences; Liver; Echinococcosis; Prevalence; Animals; Echinococcus multilocularis

SUMMARYEchinococcus multilocularisis the causative agent of alveolar echinococcosis (AE), a potentially fatal zoonotic disease. Large parts of Turkey are considered as endemic forE. multilocularis. The aim of this study was to determine the occurrence of metacestode ofE. multilocularisin wild rodents in Erzurum, an endemic region for human AE in Turkey. During the sampling period, a total of 498 rodents were trapped in twenty counties of Erzurum Province. Suspected lesions were observed on the livers of 48 rodents, and then partial fragment of mitochondrial 12S rRNA gene was PCR-amplified. Five liver samples exhibitedE. multilocularisinfection. The prevalence ofE. multilocularisforMicrotusspp. was 1·3%. All of the infected rodents had fertile metacestodes. Infected rodents were morphologically and molecularly analysed and were confirmed to beMicrotus iraniby the mitochondrial cytochromebgene sequence analysis. This is the first report of the presence ofE. multilocularisin rodent intermediate hosts in Turkey. Our findings of infectedM. iraniwith protoscoleces show that this rodent can act as suitable intermediate host forE. multilocularis’ life cycle in Turkey. However, there was a complete lack of data on the infection of carnivores from the country. An extensive survey is recommended to determine the prevalence ofE. multilocularisin definitive hosts in this endemic region.