title: Unexpected diversity of the cestode Echinococcus multilocularis in wildlife in Canada.
abstract: Echinococcus multilocularis is a zoonotic cestode with a distribution encompassing the northern hemisphere that causes alveolar hydatid disease in people and other aberrant hosts. E. multilocularis is not genetically uniform across its distribution, which may have implications for zoonotic transmission and pathogenicity. Recent findings of a European-type haplotype of E. multilocularis in wildlife in one location in western Canada motivated a broader survey of the diversity of this parasite in wildlife from northern and western Canada. We obtained intact adult cestodes of E. multilocularis from the intestines of 41 wild canids (wolf - Canis lupus, coyote - Canis latrans, and red fox - Vulpes vulpes), taeniid eggs from 28 fecal samples from Arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus), and alveolar hydatid cysts from 39 potential rodent intermediate hosts. Upon sequencing a 370-nucelotide region of the NADH dehydrogenase subunit 1 (nad1) mitochondrial locus, 17 new haplotypes were identified. This constitutes a much higher diversity than expected, as only two genotypes (European and an Asian/North American) had previously been identified using this locus. The European-type strain, recently introduced, may be widespread in wildlife within western Canada, possibly related to the large home ranges and wide dispersal range of wild canids. This study increased understanding of the biogeographic distribution, prevalence and genetic differences of a globally important pathogenic cestode in northern and western Canada.
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Microbiology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5B4, Canada.
authors.forename: Karen M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Gesy
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Microbiology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5B4, Canada.
authors.forename: Janna M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Schurer
authors.affiliation: Wildlife Ecology and Spatial Epidemiology Lab (WEaSEL), Department of Ecosystem and Public Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Calgary, 3280 Hospital Drive, NW, Calgary, AB T2N 4Z6, Canada.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Massolo
authors.affiliation: Wildlife Ecology and Spatial Epidemiology Lab (WEaSEL), Department of Ecosystem and Public Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Calgary, 3280 Hospital Drive, NW, Calgary, AB T2N 4Z6, Canada.
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Liccioli
authors.affiliation: GNWT Department of Environment & Natural Resources, Wildlife Division, 600, 5102 - 50th Avenue, Yellowknife, NT X1A 3S8, Canada.
authors.forename: Brett T
authors.initials: BT
authors.lastname: Elkin
authors.affiliation: Environment Canada Prairie and Northern Wildlife Research Centre, 115 Perimeter Rd., Saskatoon, SK S7N 0X4, Canada.
authors.forename: Ray
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Alisauskas
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Microbiology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5B4, Canada.
authors.forename: Emily J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Jenkins
keywords: Haplotypes; Mitochondrial gene; NADH dehydrogenase subunit 1; nad1; nd1