Massive subcutaneous filariosis by Filaria martis in beech marten (Martes foina) in Italy
The beech marten (Martes foina) is a small-size mustelid endangered according to the IUCN Red List. Despite the plethora of parasites potentially affecting its population decline, subcutaneous filarioids are occasionally reported in martens and their competent arthropod vectors are to date unknown....
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Elsevier
2025-02-01
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| Series: | Parasite Epidemiology and Control |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405673124000709 |
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| author | Giovanni Sgroi Ranju Ravindran Santhakumar Manoj Ettore Napoli Nicola D'Alessio Maria Gabriella Lucibelli Claudio de Martinis Esterina De Carlo Peyman Khademi Alireza Sazmand Vincenzo Veneziano |
| author_facet | Giovanni Sgroi Ranju Ravindran Santhakumar Manoj Ettore Napoli Nicola D'Alessio Maria Gabriella Lucibelli Claudio de Martinis Esterina De Carlo Peyman Khademi Alireza Sazmand Vincenzo Veneziano |
| author_sort | Giovanni Sgroi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The beech marten (Martes foina) is a small-size mustelid endangered according to the IUCN Red List. Despite the plethora of parasites potentially affecting its population decline, subcutaneous filarioids are occasionally reported in martens and their competent arthropod vectors are to date unknown. Therefore, from January 2023 to August 2024, this study investigated the presence of subcutaneous filarioids and ectoparasites of road-killed beech martens (n = 7) from southwestern Italy. One marten (14.3 %, 95 % CI: 2.6–51.3) was massively infected with subcutaneous filarioids, i.e., 18 specimens (11 males and 7 females) in the dorso-posterior region, where mild redness and sloughing of skin were found. All the filarioids were identified as Filaria martis via morphology and Sanger sequencing of the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (cox1) gene that revealed a single sequence type (GenBank accession number PQ034642) having 100 % nucleotide identity with those available in the literature. The phylogenetic analysis displayed a bootstrap value of 100 % between the cox1 sequences of F. martis of this study and those of beech martens from Italy and European minks from Spain. Haemolymph, gut, and salivary glands of the Ixodes ricinus ticks collected from the infected marten scored negative for F. martis larvae and DNA by dissection and PCR, respectively. This study reported for the first time F. martis subcutaneous filariosis in southwestern Italy, previously outlined only in northern and southeastern areas, indicating the circulation of this poorly investigated filarioid. Knowledge of the competent vectors involved in the biological cycle of F. martis requires further experimental studies. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-207bbb5e996c4b0987ec04e59d0155fa |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2405-6731 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-02-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Parasite Epidemiology and Control |
| spelling | doaj-art-207bbb5e996c4b0987ec04e59d0155fa2025-02-06T05:12:29ZengElsevierParasite Epidemiology and Control2405-67312025-02-0128e00406Massive subcutaneous filariosis by Filaria martis in beech marten (Martes foina) in ItalyGiovanni Sgroi0Ranju Ravindran Santhakumar Manoj1Ettore Napoli2Nicola D'Alessio3Maria Gabriella Lucibelli4Claudio de Martinis5Esterina De Carlo6Peyman Khademi7Alireza Sazmand8Vincenzo Veneziano9Animal Health Department, Experimental Zooprophylactic Institute of southern Italy, 2 Via della Salute, 80055 Portici, Naples, Italy; Corresponding author.Population Medicine and Diagnostics Department, Cornell University, 616 Thurston Avenue, 14853 Ithaca, NY, USAVeterinary Department, Messina University, 98168 Messina, ItalyAnimal Health Department, Experimental Zooprophylactic Institute of southern Italy, 2 Via della Salute, 80055 Portici, Naples, ItalyAnimal Health Department, Experimental Zooprophylactic Institute of southern Italy, 2 Via della Salute, 80055 Portici, Naples, ItalyAnimal Health Department, Experimental Zooprophylactic Institute of southern Italy, 2 Via della Salute, 80055 Portici, Naples, ItalyAnimal Health Department, Experimental Zooprophylactic Institute of southern Italy, 2 Via della Salute, 80055 Portici, Naples, ItalyMicrobiology and Food Hygiene Department, Lorestan University, 44316-68151 Khorramabad, IranPathobiology Department, Bu-Ali Sina University, 6517658978 Hamedan, IranVeterinary Medicine and Animal Production Department, Naples University, 8 Via Mezzocannone, 80138 Naples, ItalyThe beech marten (Martes foina) is a small-size mustelid endangered according to the IUCN Red List. Despite the plethora of parasites potentially affecting its population decline, subcutaneous filarioids are occasionally reported in martens and their competent arthropod vectors are to date unknown. Therefore, from January 2023 to August 2024, this study investigated the presence of subcutaneous filarioids and ectoparasites of road-killed beech martens (n = 7) from southwestern Italy. One marten (14.3 %, 95 % CI: 2.6–51.3) was massively infected with subcutaneous filarioids, i.e., 18 specimens (11 males and 7 females) in the dorso-posterior region, where mild redness and sloughing of skin were found. All the filarioids were identified as Filaria martis via morphology and Sanger sequencing of the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (cox1) gene that revealed a single sequence type (GenBank accession number PQ034642) having 100 % nucleotide identity with those available in the literature. The phylogenetic analysis displayed a bootstrap value of 100 % between the cox1 sequences of F. martis of this study and those of beech martens from Italy and European minks from Spain. Haemolymph, gut, and salivary glands of the Ixodes ricinus ticks collected from the infected marten scored negative for F. martis larvae and DNA by dissection and PCR, respectively. This study reported for the first time F. martis subcutaneous filariosis in southwestern Italy, previously outlined only in northern and southeastern areas, indicating the circulation of this poorly investigated filarioid. Knowledge of the competent vectors involved in the biological cycle of F. martis requires further experimental studies.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405673124000709FilariaFilarioidIxodesNematodeVector-borneWildlife |
| spellingShingle | Giovanni Sgroi Ranju Ravindran Santhakumar Manoj Ettore Napoli Nicola D'Alessio Maria Gabriella Lucibelli Claudio de Martinis Esterina De Carlo Peyman Khademi Alireza Sazmand Vincenzo Veneziano Massive subcutaneous filariosis by Filaria martis in beech marten (Martes foina) in Italy Parasite Epidemiology and Control Filaria Filarioid Ixodes Nematode Vector-borne Wildlife |
| title | Massive subcutaneous filariosis by Filaria martis in beech marten (Martes foina) in Italy |
| title_full | Massive subcutaneous filariosis by Filaria martis in beech marten (Martes foina) in Italy |
| title_fullStr | Massive subcutaneous filariosis by Filaria martis in beech marten (Martes foina) in Italy |
| title_full_unstemmed | Massive subcutaneous filariosis by Filaria martis in beech marten (Martes foina) in Italy |
| title_short | Massive subcutaneous filariosis by Filaria martis in beech marten (Martes foina) in Italy |
| title_sort | massive subcutaneous filariosis by filaria martis in beech marten martes foina in italy |
| topic | Filaria Filarioid Ixodes Nematode Vector-borne Wildlife |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405673124000709 |
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