1
|
Santa MA, Umhang G, Klein C, Grant DM, Ruckstuhl KE, Musiani M, Gilleard JS, Massolo A. It's a small world for parasites: evidence supporting the North American invasion of European Echinococcus multilocularis. Proc Biol Sci 2023; 290:20230128. [PMID: 36883278 PMCID: PMC9993045 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.0128] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Echinococcus multilocularis (Em), the causative agent of human alveolar echinococcosis (AE), is present in the Holarctic region, and several genetic variants deem to have differential infectivity and pathogenicity. An unprecedented outbreak of human AE cases in Western Canada infected with a European-like strain circulating in wild hosts warranted assessment of whether this strain was derived from a recent invasion or was endemic but undetected. Using nuclear and mitochondrial markers, we investigated the genetic diversity of Em in wild coyotes and red foxes from Western Canada, compared the genetic variants identified to global isolates and assessed their spatial distribution to infer possible invasion dynamics. Genetic variants from Western Canada were closely related to the original European clade, with lesser genetic diversity than that expected for a long-established strain and spatial genetic discontinuities within the study area, supporting the hypothesis of a relatively recent invasion with various founder events.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Maria A. Santa
- Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| | - Gerald Umhang
- Nancy Laboratory for Rabies and Wildlife, National Reference Laboratory for Echinococcus spp., Wildlife Surveillance and Eco-epidemiology Unit, ANSES, Technopôle Agricole et Vétérinaire, Malzéville, France
| | - Claudia Klein
- Department of Clinical and Veterinary Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
- Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Bundesforschungsinstitut für Tiergesundheit, Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, Neustadt, Germany
| | - Danielle M. Grant
- Department of Clinical and Veterinary Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
- NORCE Climate, NORCE Norwegian Research Centre, Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research, Bergen, Norway
| | - Kathreen E. Ruckstuhl
- Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| | - Marco Musiani
- Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
- Dipartimento di Scienze Biologiche, Geologiche e Ambientali (BiGeA), University of Bologna, Italy
| | - John S. Gilleard
- Department of Comparative Biology & Experimental Medicine, Host-Parasite Interactions (HPI) program, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| | - Alessandro Massolo
- Ethology Unit, Department of Biology, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
- UMR CNRS 6249 Chrono-environnement, Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté, Besançon, France
- Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| |
Collapse
|