Weave: Österreich - Belgien - Deutschland - Luxemburg - Polen - Schweiz - Slowenien - Tschechien
Disciplines
Health Sciences (25%); Veterinary Medicine (75%)
Keywords
Dirofilaria repens,
Dirofilaria immitis,
Metagenomics,
Molecular phylogeny
Abstract
Dirofilariasis (including the heartworm disease of the dog) is an expanding zoonotic disease
caused by Dirofilaria spp. nematodes vectored by mosquitoes. Despite being cosmopolitan
parasites, the knowledge on the genetic diversity of D. repens and D. immitis, occurrence of
subspecies/cryptic species or distinct genetic variants is insufficient. Humans can be infected
by the range of Dirofilaria species and molecular identification of parasites from human cases
is urgently needed. The main aim of study is to evaluate the genetic diversity of D. repens and
D. immitis from different countries and continents using modern molecular techniques,
including metabarcoding and whole genome sequencing.