Abstract
Objective
This study was aimed to confirm the infection and molecular identification of Echinococcus tapeworms in a gray wolf in an urban area of northeastern Turkey.
Methods
A dead gray wolf (Canis lupus) was found near Erzurum province and brought to the parasitology laboratory. Sedimentation and counting technique (SCT) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis were conducted.
Results
The SCT implications indicated that the wolf had a substantial worm burden (62,720 and 49,280 parasites) due to a co-infection of E. granulosus s.l. and E. multilocularis. Genus/species-specific PCR was used to analyze DNA extracted from adult worms and confirmed as E. granulosus s.s. (G1) and E. multilocularis, utilizing COI and 12S rRNA gene sequence analysis, respectively.
Conclusion
This report presents the first co-detection of E. granulosus s.s. and E. multilocularis in a gray wolf found in an urban area from a highly endemic area for human echinococcosis in northeastern Turkey. The results emphasize that AE is not only a problem of rural areas, but also occurs in urban areas, which may pose a threat to public health. Therefore, surveillance in urban areas is crucial. The need to design new control strategies in domestic and wildlife perspective in the study area is also underlined.