Besnoitiosis in donkeys: an emerging parasitic disease of equids in Italy

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Abstract

Besnoitiosis is an emerging parasitic disease of equids. Italy is one of the few European countries where the circulation of Besnoitia spp. antibodies was demonstrated. In this study, a case of clinical besnoitiosis in two donkeys in northern Italy is reported. The two animals were clinically examined. Serum and blood samples were analyzed for the detection of Besnoitia spp. antibodies and for hematology, biochemistry, and enzyme activity, respectively. ITS-1 PCR and sequencing were carried out on DNA extracted from skin biopsies. Clinical examination revealed numerous scleral pearls in eyes of both animals; alopecia and hyperkeratosis with skin nodules in the region of the neck, hind leg, and on the pinnae were detected. No cysts were evidenced by endoscopy in respiratory and genital tracts. Both animals resulted seropositive to Besnoitia spp. antibodies by Western Blot. Hematology evidenced light anemia, leukocytosis with eosinophilia, and lymphocytosis; biochemistry and enzyme activity revealed hypoalbuminemia with decreased albumin/globulin ratio and elevated alkaline phosphatase values. Parasitic DNA extracted from skin biopsies of both donkeys demonstrated a homology of 100% with Besnoitia spp. This first clinical case of besnoitiosis in two donkeys in Italy both confirms the circulation of Besnoitia spp. in Italian equids and demonstrates that the distribution area of equine besnoitiosis in Europe could be wider than expected. Further studies are needed to infer its relevance, in relation to seroprevalence and clinical disease, and to identify the species of Besnoitia infecting donkeys. Besnoitiosis may be a neglected disease of donkeys in Europe: an early and accurate diagnosis is fundamental to implement adequate control measures to prevent a “silent” spread of Besnoitia spp. infection in equids populations.

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The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00436-021-07089-9.

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Most cited references 32

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FLOTAC: new multivalent techniques for qualitative and quantitative copromicroscopic diagnosis of parasites in animals and humans.

Laura Rinaldi, Giuseppe Cringoli, Jürg Utzinger … (2010)

Accurate diagnosis of parasitic infections is of pivotal importance for both individual patient management and population-based studies, such as drug efficacy trials and surveillance of parasitic disease control and elimination programs, in both human and veterinary public health. In this study, we present protocols for the FLOTAC basic, dual and double techniques, which are promising new multivalent, sensitive, accurate and precise methods for qualitative and quantitative copromicroscopic analysis. These various methods make use of the FLOTAC apparatus, a cylindrical device with two 5-ml flotation chambers, which allows up to 1 g of stool to be prepared for microscopic analysis. Compared with currently more widely used diagnostic methods for parasite detection in animals (e.g., McMaster and Wisconsin techniques) and humans (e.g., Kato-Katz and ether-based concentration techniques), the FLOTAC techniques show higher sensitivity and accuracy. All FLOTAC techniques can be performed on fresh fecal material as well as preserved stool samples, and require approximately 12-15 min of preparation time before microscopic analysis.

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A century of bovine besnoitiosis: an unknown disease re-emerging in Europe.

Luis Mora, Gereon Schares, F Frey … (2013)

Bovine besnoitiosis, which is caused by the cyst-forming apicomplexan parasite Besnoitia besnoiti, is a chronic and debilitating vector-borne disease characterized by both cutaneous and systemic manifestations. In Europe, this parasitic disease appeared in a few restricted areas in France and Portugal since the first recorded cases in the beginning of the 20th century. However, at present, the disease is considered to be re-emerging by the European Food Safety Authority due to an increased number of cases and the geographic expansion of besnoitiosis into cattle herds in several European countries. In this review, we will provide an update of the epidemiology and impact of B. besnoiti infection. Strategies to control this parasitic disease will also be discussed. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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A review on bovine besnoitiosis: a disease with economic impact in herd health management, caused by Besnoitia besnoiti (Franco and Borges, ).

Helder Cortes, Alexandre Leitão, Bruno Gottstein … (2014)

Bovine besnoitiosis is caused by the largely unexplored apicomplexan parasite Besnoitia besnoiti. In cows, infection during pregnancy often results in abortion, and chronically infected bulls become infertile. Similar to other apicomplexans B. besnoiti has acquired a largely intracellular lifestyle, but its complete life cycle is still unknown, modes of transmission have not been entirely resolved and the definitive host has not been identified. Outbreaks of bovine besnoitiosis in cattle were described in the 1990s in Portugal and Spain, and later several cases were also detected in France. More cases have been reported recently in hitherto unaffected countries, including Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Hungary and Croatia. To date, there is still no effective pharmaceutical compound available for the treatment of besnoitiosis in cattle, and progress in the identification of novel targets for intervention through pharmacological or immunological means is hampered by the lack of molecular data on the genomic and transcriptomic level. In addition, the lack of an appropriate small animal laboratory model, and wide gaps in our knowledge on the host-parasite interplay during the life cycle of this parasite, renders vaccine and drug development a cost- and labour-intensive undertaking.

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Author and article information

Contributors

Luca Villa:

ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2013-3997

luca.villa@unimi.it

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): Parasitol Res

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Parasitol Res

Title: Parasitology Research

Publisher: Springer Berlin Heidelberg (Berlin/Heidelberg )

ISSN (Print): 0932-0113

ISSN (Electronic): 1432-1955

Publication date (Electronic): 16 March 2021

Publication date PMC-release: 16 March 2021

Publication date (Print): 2021

Volume: 120

Issue: 5

Pages: 1811-1819

Affiliations

[1 ]GRID grid.4708.b, ISNI 0000 0004 1757 2822, Department of Veterinary Medicine, , Università degli Studi di Milano, ; Via dell’Università 6, 26900 Lodi, Italy

[2 ]GRID grid.4795.f, ISNI 0000 0001 2157 7667, SALUVET, Animal Health Department, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, , Complutense University of Madrid, ; Ciudad Universitaria s/n, 28040 Madrid, Spain

[3 ]Brescia, Italy

[4 ]GRID grid.4708.b, ISNI 0000 0004 1757 2822, Department of Health, Animal Science and Food Safety, , Università degli Studi di Milano, ; Via dell’Università 6, 26900 Lodi, Italy

Author notes

Section Editor: Daniel K Howe

Author information

Luca Villa http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2013-3997

Article

Publisher ID: 7089

DOI: 10.1007/s00436-021-07089-9

PMC ID: 8084774

PubMed ID: 33723661

SO-VID: f827b77b-3a9b-47c3-a07b-c6e082a48b48

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Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

History

Date received : 21 October 2020

Date accepted : 15 February 2021

Funding

Funded by: Università degli Studi di Milano

Open Access :

Open access funding provided by Università degli Studi di Milano within the CRUI-CARE Agreement.

Besnoitiosis in donkeys: an emerging parasitic disease of equids in Italy

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Most cited references 32

FLOTAC: new multivalent techniques for qualitative and quantitative copromicroscopic diagnosis of parasites in animals and humans.

A century of bovine besnoitiosis: an unknown disease re-emerging in Europe.

A review on bovine besnoitiosis: a disease with economic impact in herd health management, caused by Besnoitia besnoiti (Franco and Borges, ).

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