Rolf Karl Schuster1, Jörg Kinne, Belgees Boufana2 and Antonio Varcasia3
1Central Veterinary Research Laboratory, PO Box 597, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
2Department of Zoology, University of Benghazi, P.O. Box 1308, Benghazi, Libya
3Laboratorio di Parassitologia e Malattie Parassitarie, Ospedale Didattico Veterinario,
Dipartimento di Medicina Veterinaria, Università degli Studi di Sassari, Via Vienna 207100 Sassari, Italy
ABSTRACT
A camel calf died shortly after it was translocated together with its mother from Pakistan to a farm in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. Necropsy revealed severe alterations in the liver caused by bladder-like structures which appeared to be parasitic in nature and measured between 3-6 mm in size. Parasitological and histological examination showed structures resembling cysticerci at early stages of development. DNA sequencing of fragments amplified within the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (cox1) and the NADH dehydrogenase subunit 1 (ND1) revealed that the infection had been caused by Cysticercus tenuicollis, the metacestode larval stage of Taenia hydatigena. The majority of the metacestode cysts of C. tenuicollis (30/36) observed at necropsy were in a stage of caseous degeneration which suggested that the dromedary may be an aberrant host of this parasite.
Key words: Cysticercus tenuicollis, DNA sequencing, dromedary, Taenia hydatigena
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