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Unravelling Spirocerca vulpis from red foxes from Switzerland: a 20-year-old record

  • Helminthology - Short Communication
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Abstract

Spirocerca vulpis is a parasitic nematode of red foxes associated with gastric nodule formation. Since its description in 2018, this species has been reported in red foxes from Spain, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Italy, and Portugal. We present here the analysis of uncharacterized nematodes obtained from gastric nodules of a red fox from Switzerland in 1999. The specimens were identified as S. vulpis based on the observation of teeth-like structures in the buccal capsule and a 99.4% sequence identity to S. vulpis DNA from Spain. Phylogenetic analysis demonstrated the clustering of the Swiss sequences in a different group from specimens of other geographical locations. Altogether, this study constitutes the first report of S. vulpis in Switzerland and a report of the oldest specimen of this species in the world. Our findings highlight the widespread distribution of S. vulpis in Europe which may be facilitated by the free-roaming nature of red foxes.

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Availability of data and material

The analyzed specimens are maintained in the laboratory of Prof. Gad Baneth and the obtained sequences are deposited in GenBank databases under accession number MT309693-MT309695.

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Funding

This study was funded from internal sources of the laboratory of Gad Baneth and a partial stipend granted to Alicia Rojas by the University of Costa Rica.

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Contributions

AR analyzed and identified the nematodes, and wrote the draft manuscript. PD collected the specimens and reviewed the final version of the manuscript. GB provided the funds and reviewed the manuscript including the final version.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alicia Rojas.

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The authors declare they do not have any conflict of interest.

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The present study did not require any ethics approval.

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Section Editor: Dante Zarlenga

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Rojas, A., Deplazes, P. & Baneth, G. Unravelling Spirocerca vulpis from red foxes from Switzerland: a 20-year-old record. Parasitol Res 119, 3105–3108 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-020-06791-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-020-06791-4

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