First Record of <i>Trichobilharzia physellae</i> (Talbot, 1936) in Europe, a Possible Causative Agent of Cercarial Dermatitis

oleh: Nikolaus Helmer, Hubert Blatterer, Christoph Hörweg, Susanne Reier, Helmut Sattmann, Julia Schindelar, Nikolaus U. Szucsich, Elisabeth Haring

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: MDPI AG 2021-11-01

Deskripsi

Several species of avian schistosomes are known to cause dermatitis in humans worldwide. In Europe, this applies above all to species of the genus <i>Trichobilharzia</i>. For Austria, a lot of data are available on cercarial dermatitis and on the occurrence of <i>Trichobilharzia</i>, yet species identification of trematodes in most cases is doubtful due to the challenging morphological determination of cercariae. During a survey of trematodes in freshwater snails, we were able to detect a species in the snail <i>Physella acuta</i> (Draparnaud, 1805) hitherto unknown for Austria, <i>Trichobilharzia physellae</i>; this is also the first time this species has been reported in Europe. Species identification was performed by integrative taxonomy combining morphological investigations with molecular genetic analyses. The results show a very close relationship between the parasite found in Austria and North American specimens (similarity found in <i>CO1</i> ≥99.57%). Therefore, a recent introduction of <i>T. physellae</i> into Europe can be assumed.