Canine Dracunculus Nematode Infection, Toledo, Spain

Otterly diverse - A high diversity of Dracunculus species (Spirurida: Dracunculoidea) in North American river otters (Lontra canadensis)

“…Clade 1 included sequences from eight worms collected from otters from Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina. Clade 2 included sequences from a single worm collected from an otter from Florida and previously reported sequences from a Virginia opossum from Georgia and a domestic dog from Spain ( Cleveland et al, 2020 ; Diekmann et al, 2020 ). Clade 1 was genetically most similar to D. lutrae (92.4–93% similarity) and phylogenetically it grouped as a sister clade to D. lutrae ( Table 3 , Fig.…”

“…from a domestic dogs from Brazil, and a novel Dracunculus sp. from a jaguar ( Panthera onca ) from Brazil) ( Cleveland et al, 2020 ; Diekmann et al, 2020 ; Paiva et al, 2021 ; Fagundes-Moreira et al, 2023 ; Natalini et al, 2023 ). There is increased interest in diseases of otters as North American river otter ( Lontra canadensis ) populations in the last 50 years have increased dramatically, largely due to river otter reintroduction campaigns that began in the 1970's in numerous US states and Canadian provinces ( Raesly, 2001 ).…”

“…Another species, D. lutrae , appears to be a host-specialist of river otters and has only been confirmed in otters in Ontario, Canada ( Crichton and Beverly-Burton, 1973 ; Elsasser et al, 2009 ). The third species is an undescribed species initially detected in a Virginia opossum from Georgia, USA and subsequently from a domestic dog in Spain ( Cleveland et al, 2020 ; Diekmann et al, 2020 ). There are also many reports of unidentified Dracunculus in river otters ( Cheatum and Cook, 1948 ; Barding and Lacki, 2015 ; Tumlison and Surf, 2018 ).…”

Development and validation of a quantitative PCR for the detection of Guinea worm (Dracunculus medinensis)

“…nematode (OPO28; GenBank accession no. MK085893.1) that most closely groups with the Dracunculus nematode recovered from a dog in Spain [ 26 ] also did not amplify. There are likely additional Dracunculus species not yet formally described [for example, the Vietnamese Dracunculus specimen recovered from a human; 42 ] for which there are no cytb sequences; therefore, continued validation of this assay with new Dracunculus spp.…”

“…Morphologically-identified and molecularly-confirmed nematodes (n = 91) and one trematode species were obtained from research samples or wildlife submitted for diagnostic evaluation by the SCWDS diagnostic service (Table 4). These non-target samples included other dracunculids (n = 62) that are most likely to cross-react in the assay [14,25,26]. Dracunculus insignis samples were primarily obtained from raccoons, a common host of this species in North America, with additional samples from mustelids and skunks [27][28][29][30][31].…”