Trichinella britovi in a leopard (Panthera pardus saxicolor) in Iran.
Nematodes of the genus Trichinella are zoonotic parasites with a cosmopolitan distribution. In Iran, these parasites have mainly been detected in carnivorous mammals, yet information on the Trichinella taxa circulating in this country date back to a time when biochemical and molecular tests were not available. We describe the first detection of Trichinella larvae in a leopard (Panthera pardus saxicolor) in Asia and its identification at the species level. The larvae recovered from the leopard muscles were identified as Trichinella britovi using multiplex PCR. The detection of Trichinella infection in a leopard confirms literature data on the high prevalence of infection in carnivorous mammals in Iran.
Mowlavi
Gholamreza
G
Department of Medical Parasitology & Mycology, School of Public Health & Institute of Public Health Research, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, P.O. Box 6446, Tehran 14155, Iran. molavig@yahoo.com
Marucci
Gianluca
G
Mobedi
Iraj
I
Zahabiioon
Farzaneh
F
Mirjalali
Hamed
H
Pozio
Edoardo
E
D000818:Animals; D007492:Iran / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000469:parasitology; D046009:Panthera; D015995:Prevalence; D014234:Trichinella / Q000145:classification*; D014235:Trichinellosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*