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. 2021 Oct 14;11(10):2966.
doi: 10.3390/ani11102966.

Emergence of Parafilaria bovicola in Austria

Alexandra Hund  1   2 , Johannes Reithofer  1 , Bita Shahi Barogh  3 , Maria Sophia Unterköfler  3 , Josef Harl  4 , Hans-Peter Fuehrer  3
Affiliations

Emergence of Parafilaria bovicola in Austria

Alexandra Hund et al. Animals (Basel). .

Abstract

Veterinarians reported cases of cutaneous bleeding in cattle in Austria in the spring and summer of 2020. It was our goal to confirm the tentative diagnosis of parafilariosis by identifying Parafilaria bovicola in exudate samples using molecular methods for the first time in Austria. We asked veterinarians in the field to collect exudate from typical lesions on cattle. We performed polymerase chain reactions (PCRs) and sequenced a 674-bp section of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I in all positive samples. Overall, in 57 of 86 samples, P. bovicola was confirmed by PCR in cattle from Lower Austria, Upper Austria, Styria, Salzburg, Carinthia, and Tyrol. Sequencing detected four different haplotypes or genotypes, respectively, indicating multiple routes of introduction. We conclude that parafilariosis has spread in Austria and we expect that the number of reports of clinical signs and losses due to carcass damage will increase in the future.

Keywords: Parafilaria bovicola; cattle; parafilariosis.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Cattle affected by P. bovicola with bleeding spots on (a) the thorax in the shoulder region and (b) the neck. Photo credit: Susanne Möser (a), Johannes Reithofer (b).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Location of haplotypes and number of positive samples submitted by town. Please visit https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1zjFBQwKYfcNieR0q0vtQLkYcYkbKObSy&usp=sharing (accessed on 20 August 2021) for an interactive map.
Figure 3
Figure 3
(A) Maximum likelihood tree of the four cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) haplotypes (HPT1–4) with a Dirofilaria repens sequence from GenBank (accession number: MW590257) as the outgroup; (B) median-joining haplotype network showing the distribution of different haplotypes per federal state and the number of individuals; (C) sequence alignment showing the nucleotide positions (counting from the 5′-end of the COI) differing between the four COI haplotypes.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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