Research paperThe European badger, Meles meles, as a new host for Trichinella britovi in Romania
Introduction
Nematodes of genus Trichinella are cosmopolitan zoonotic parasites and are among the most widespread parasites of domestic and wild omnivores and predatory animals (Pozio et al., 2009). In Romania, the first epidemiological studies on Trichinella spp. in domestic and wildlife hosts took place in 1960 (Lupașcu et al. 1970). The risk of infection with Trichinella spp. is a major concern in Romania, due to local eating habits (Blaga et al., 2007). The Mustelidae represents the most diverse family within the order Carnivora, and includes 67 species of small- to medium-sized animals, with an elongated, slender body and short extremities, and having an almost worldwide distribution, excepting Australia and Antarctica (Nascimento, 2014; Akdesir et al., 2018). In Europe, the Mustelidae family should also be taken in to account when considering the epidemiology and distribution of Trichinella spp. (Hurníková et al., 2009). In some regions, European badgers, Meles meles, form stable social groups and are solitary foragers, displaying a high degree of behavioral plasticity (Woodroffe and Macdonald, 1993). Based on their dietary habits, the European badgers could act as potential hosts for Trichinella spp. (Remonti et al., 2011).
Considering that previous studies in Romania have shown the presence of Trichinella spp. in various domestic and wild animal species, our research aimed to investigate the occurrence of these parasites in badgers and to identify the involved Trichinella species.
Section snippets
Study area and samples
Between 2015 and 2019, 61 carcasses of European badgers (32 males, 29 females; 47 adults, 14 young) from 14 counties of Romania were examined by complete parasitological necropsy. All of the animals were legally hunted or found as road-kills. The counties from where the animals originated are the following: Timiș, Bihor, Sălaj, Maramureș, Cluj, Alba, Mureș, Sibiu, Brașov, Harghita, Ilfov, Giurgiu, Constanța, and Tulcea (Fig. 1).
Trichinoscopy and artificial digestion
All animals were tested by trichinoscopy and artificial digestion (
Results
A single badger (1.6 %; 95 % CI: 0.3–8.7) was found positive for Trichinella spp. by trichinoscopy and artificial digestion. The animal originated in Sibiu County, central Romania (Fig. 1). Five cysts were identified using trichinoscopy: four in the diaphragm muscle and one in the foreleg muscles. Artificial digestion revealed an infestation rate of 70 larvae/100 g of muscle. The electrophoretic profile of both infested muscle and larval isolates included two bands (∼127 and 253 bp
Discussion
The European badger, Meles meles can be an important reservoir host for Trichinella spp. in well-defined geographic areas (Pozio and Rossi, 2008). In Europe, the European badgers can be infected with T. britovi (Moskwa et al., 2012) and T. nativa (Järvis et al., 2001). The current study revealed that European badgers from Romania can also act as reservoirs for T. britovi. The prevalence obtained during the present study was 1.6 %, which is lower compared to the prevalence rates reported by
Conclusion
The present paper describes the first report of T. britovi infection in the European badger from Romania. However, the low prevalence indicates a minor reservoir role for this species.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Zsolt Boros: Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing - original draft. Angela Monica Ionică: Writing - review & editing, Validation. Georgiana Deak: Writing - review & editing, Resources. Andrei Daniel Mihalca: Resources, Writing - review & editing. Gabriel Bogdan Chisamera: Writing - review & editing, Resources. Adriana Györke: Writing - review & editing, Formal analysis. Călin Mircea Gherman: Writing - review & editing, Project administration. Vasile Cozma: Writing - review & editing,
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors report no declarations of interest.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank the hunters that provided some of the badgers and also students that helped with the necropsies, especially, Alicja Matysiak, Alexandru Sarmași and Andreea Iani.
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