Natural Theileria equi infection in captive Tapirus terrestris (Perissodactyla: Tapiridae) in the Brazilian Amazon

Gonçalves, Thamirys de Souza; Barros, Fabrício José Brito; Inoue, Larissa Saori; Farias, Diana Maria de; Lima, Jaqueline; Nobre, Adriana Vasconcelos; Aidar, Eveline Simões Azenha; Diniz, Rafael Romeu Ferreira; Gering, Ana Paula; Scofield, Alessandra

doi:10.1016/j.ttbdis.2020.101452

Cited by 9 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Recently, isolates from tapir (Tapirus terrestris) have been referred to as T. equi. However, the fact that these isolates place as a sister group to all other isolates of the Equus group strongly suggests that they represent a novel species; it may have been therefore preferable to refer to them either as T. equi-like or give them an alternative isolate designation (de Souza Gonçalves et al 2020).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Piroplasmida Babesia, Cytauxzoon, and Theileria in farm and companion animals: species compilation, molecular phylogeny, and evolutionary insights

et al. 2022

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The order Piroplasmida, including the genera Babesia, Cytauxzoon, and Theileria is often referred to as piroplasmids and comprises of dixenous hemoprotozoans transmitted by ticks to a mammalian or avian host. Although piroplasmid infections are usually asymptomatic in wild animals, in domestic animals, they cause serious or life-threatening consequences resulting in fatalities. Piroplasmids are particularly notorious for the enormous economic loss they cause worldwide in livestock production, the restrictions they pose on horse trade, and the negative health impact they have on dogs and cats. Furthermore, an increasing number of reported human babesiosis cases are of growing concern. Considerable international research and epidemiological studies are done to identify existing parasite species, reveal their phylogenetic relationships, and develop improved or new drugs and vaccines to mitigate their impact. In this review, we present a compilation of all piroplasmid species, isolates, and species complexes that infect domestic mammals and which have been well defined by molecular phylogenetic markers. Altogether, 57 taxonomic piroplasmid entities were compiled, comprising of 43 piroplasmid species, 12 well-defined isolates awaiting formal species description, and two species complexes that possibly mask additional species. The extrapolation of the finding of at least 57 piroplasmid species in only six domestic mammalian groups (cattle, sheep, goat, horse, dog, and cat) allows us to predict that a substantially higher number of piroplasmid parasites than vertebrate host species exist. Accordingly, the infection of a vertebrate host species by multiple piroplasmid species from the same and/or different phylogenetic lineages is commonly observed. Molecular phylogeny using 18S rRNA genes of piroplasmids infecting domestic mammals results in the formation of six clades, which emerge due to an anthropocentric research scope, but not due to a possibly assumed biological priority position. Scrutinizing the topology of inferred trees reveals stunning insights into some evolutionary patterns exhibited by this intriguing group of parasites. Contrary to expectations, diversification of parasite species appears to be dominated by host-parasite cospeciation (Fahrenholz's rule), and, except for piroplasmids that segregate into Clade VI, host switching is rarely observed. When only domestic mammalian hosts are taken into account, Babesia sensu lato (s.l.) parasites of Clades I and II infect only dogs and cats, respectively, Cytauxzoon spp. placed into Clade III only infect cats, Theileria placed into Clade IV exclusively infect horses, wheras Theileria sensu stricto (s.s.) of Clade V infects only cattle and small ruminants. In contrast, Babesia s.s. parasites of Clade VI infect all farm and companion animal species. We outline how the unique ability of transovarial transmission of Babesia s.s. piroplasmids of Clade VI facilitates species diversification by host switching to other host vertebrate species. Finally, a deterioration o...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Piroplasmida Babesia, Cytauxzoon, and Theileria in farm and companion animals: species compilation, molecular phylogeny, and evolutionary insights

et al. 2022

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“…T. equi, one of the causative agents of the veterinary important disease equine piroplasmosis, is ubiquitous in horses in the Philippines [42]. Although equids are its natural and preferred hosts, T. equi has been found in other mammals such as dogs [43][44][45][46][47][48], camels [49], and tapirs [50]. The detection of T. equi in cattle (Algeria) has only been reported once [51].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bovine Piroplasma Populations in the Philippines Characterized Using Targeted Amplicon Deep Sequencing

Galon,

Macalanda,

Sugi

et al. 2023

Microorganisms

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Molecular assays and capillary electrophoresis sequencing have been used to identify parasites in livestock. The low sample capacity, which increases labor and processing time, is one drawback. Targeted amplicon sequencing (Ampliseq) uses the fast and large sample capacity platform to identify parasites in the target host, overcoming this limitation. DNA was extracted from 162 whole blood samples collected from cattle in three provinces in the Philippines. Using Illumina’s Miseq platform, the V4 hypervariable region of the piroplasma 18S rRNA gene was amplified and sequenced. The AMPtk pipeline was used to obtain distinct amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) and the NCBI BLAST non-redundant database was used to assign taxonomy. In total, 95 (58.64%) samples were positive for piroplasma. Using the AMPTk pipeline, 2179 ASVs were obtained. A total of 79 distinct ASVs were obtained after clustering and filtering, which belonged to genera Babesia (n = 58), Theileria (n = 17), Hepatozoon (n = 2), and Sarcocystis (n = 2). The ASV top hits were composed of 10 species: Babesia bovis, B. bigemina, Theileria orientalis, Babesia sp., Hepatozoon canis, Sarcocystis cruzi, T. annulata, T. equi, T. mutans, and Theileria sp. Thung Song. The results generated in this study demonstrated the applicability of Ampliseq in detecting piroplasmid parasites infecting cattle in the Philippines.

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“…was detected in Missouri, USA, in an adult male captive reindeer (R. tarandus [120]). Infections of South American tapirs (Tapirus terrestris) with Theileria equi were confirmed in zoo and botanical gardens located in Northern parts of Brazil [121]. Theileria bicornis was detected in samples of captive white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum) and black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis) in Australian zoo [117].…”

Section: Babesia Theileria and Cytauxzoon Piroplasmidamentioning

confidence: 90%

Role of Zoo-Housed Animals in the Ecology of Ticks and Tick-Borne Pathogens—A Review

et al. 2021

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Ticks are ubiquitous ectoparasites, feeding on representatives of all classes of terrestrial vertebrates and transmitting numerous pathogens of high human and veterinary medical importance. Exotic animals kept in zoological gardens, ranches, wildlife parks or farms may play an important role in the ecology of ticks and tick-borne pathogens (TBPs), as they may serve as hosts for local tick species. Moreover, they can develop diseases of varying severity after being infected by TBPs, and theoretically, can thus serve as reservoirs, thereby further propagating TBPs in local ecosystems. The definite role of these animals in the tick–host-pathogen network remains poorly investigated. This review provides a summary of the information currently available regarding ticks and TBPs in connection to captive local and exotic wildlife, with an emphasis on zoo-housed species.

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Natural Theileria equi infection in captive Tapirus terrestris (Perissodactyla: Tapiridae) in the Brazilian Amazon

Cited by 9 publications

References 29 publications

The Piroplasmida Babesia, Cytauxzoon, and Theileria in farm and companion animals: species compilation, molecular phylogeny, and evolutionary insights

The Piroplasmida Babesia, Cytauxzoon, and Theileria in farm and companion animals: species compilation, molecular phylogeny, and evolutionary insights

Bovine Piroplasma Populations in the Philippines Characterized Using Targeted Amplicon Deep Sequencing

Role of Zoo-Housed Animals in the Ecology of Ticks and Tick-Borne Pathogens—A Review

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