Abstract
So far, neither the feline lungworms Aelurostrongylus abstrusus and Troglostrongylus brevior nor the canine lungworm Angiostrongylus vasorum was reported in wildlife or intermediate hosts from Austria. The slug Arion vulgaris represents an invasive species in Europe and serves as intermediate host for several lungworm species. This study aimed to analyse the occurrence of metastrongyloid lungworm larvae in slugs in Vienna, Austria. Therefore, 193 A. vulgaris were collected in the central Prater park in summer 2016. Specimens were artificially digested, analysed microscopically for lungworm larvae, and species were confirmed via PCR and sequencing. Out of 193, five slugs were positive to lungworms (2.6%), one for A. vasorum, two for A. abstrusus (genotypes A and B) and one for T. brevior, and one slug had a mixed infection of A. abstrusus and T. brevior larvae. The current study is the first evidence on the endemicity of these metastrongyloid lungworm species in Austria.
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Acknowledgements
We are particularly grateful to Mag. Alexandra Dockal-Penagos and Elfriede Dockal for their help during the slugs’ collection and Christine Henrich (Institute of Parasitology, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, Germany) for her excellent technical assistance and support in molecular analyses of samples.
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This research was funded by the Institute of Parasitology Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, Germany.
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Supplementary Fig. 1
Alignment of ITS2-sequences of Aelurostrongylus larvae from Vienna snails and current GenBank entries (PDF 141 kb)
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Penagos-Tabares, F., Groß, K.M., Hirzmann, J. et al. Occurrence of canine and feline lungworms in Arion vulgaris in a park of Vienna: First report of autochthonous Angiostrongylus vasorum, Aelurostrongylus abstrusus and Troglostrongylus brevior in Austria. Parasitol Res 119, 327–331 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-019-06527-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-019-06527-z