The Occurrence of the Pseudophyllidean, Spirometra Species, in a Tanzanian Dog with a Molecular Approach

Cestodes of the genus Spirometra are multi-host parasites that are causative agents of spirometrosis in domestic and wild carnivores and sparganosis in humans. In domestic animals, the infection is usually asymptomatic. This study investigated the Spirometra species obtained from a domestic dog from Tanzania. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used for molecular identification of Spirometra. The amplicons derived from genomic DNA samples from a single adult worm were subjected to sequencing and compared with that of S. erinaceieuropaei. The gene arrangement in the mt genome sequences of S. erinaceieuropaei from Tanzania is identical. The identity of the mt genomes was 100% between S. erinaceieuropaei from Tanzania. The result of this study does not support earlier conclusions that Tanzanian Spirometra sp. is S. theileri. This is the first report of S. erinaceieuropaei in dogs from Tanzania.