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Morphological and molecular identification of Spirocerca lupi (Nematoda: Spiruridae) found in the Andean fox (Lycalopex culpaeus)

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Abstract

Lesions compatible with spirocercosis were found in the esophagus and aorta of an Andean fox from Cuzco, Peru. The esophageal and aortic lesions were 5.5 and 1.5 cm in diameter, respectively. A total of 12 adult nematodes (6 males and 6 females) were collected from the esophageal lesion, and all were identified as Spirocerca lupi by morphological and molecular methods. Molecular characterization was performed by analyzing two sources of the cox1 gene, and the sequences were compared with previous S. lupi sequences from other work deposited in GenBank. Analysis of the partial cox1 gene from S. lupi (n = 3) showed 2 haplotypes and had 95–99% nucleotide similarity to previously described sequences. Also, molecular analysis showed that S. lupi is a very diverse group, due to the genetic variability of the partial sequences of the cox1 gene of Spirocerca. This study is the first to report finding of spirocercosis in the Andean fox.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Dr. Narry Tiao for the comments and critique of the text.

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Contributions

Parasite collection and fox necropsy: LAG-P, JC. Parasite identification: LAG-P. Wrote the paper: LAG-P, JC, MTL-U, AEG. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: LAG-P, MTL-U, AEG. Sequenced and assembled the genes: LAG-P. All authors read and approved the final version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Luis A. Gomez-Puerta.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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All applicable international, national, and/or institutional guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed.

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Gomez-Puerta, L.A., Carrasco, J., Lopez-Urbina, M.T. et al. Morphological and molecular identification of Spirocerca lupi (Nematoda: Spiruridae) found in the Andean fox (Lycalopex culpaeus). J Parasit Dis 42, 449–454 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12639-018-1009-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12639-018-1009-8

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