Molecular evidence of the absence of Metagonimus yokogawai (Katsurada, 1912) in Europe: report of Metagonimus sp. in cyprinoid fish from the River Danube in Hungary

• Published in: Parasitology research (1987) Vol. 122; no. 10; pp. 2325 - 2334
• Main Authors: Cech, Gábor, Gyöngy, Martina, Sándor, Diána, Molnár, Kálmán, Sellyei, Boglárka, Varga, Ádám, Székely, Csaba
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.10.2023; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid; Fishes; Health aspects; Immunology; Infection; Medical Microbiology; Metagonimus; Metagonimus yokogawai; Microbiology; Scientific equipment and supplies industry; Sequence analysis; Southeast Asia; Romania; Hungary; United States; Japan; Bulgaria; Russia; Danube River; Metacercariae; Digenean trematodes; Freshwater fish; Metagonimus
• ISSN: 0932-0113; 1432-1955; 1432-1955
• DOI: 10.1007/s00436-023-07932-1

Trematodes of the genus Metagonimus Katsurada, 1912 (Digenea: Heterophyidae) are zoonotic parasites that cause infections in humans, with most cases reported in Southeast Asia. Larvae from the second intermediate host, called metacercariae, of one of human-infecting species, M. yokogawai (Katsurada, 1912), have been reported from cyprinoid fish in Europe. In the present study, we provided DNA-based evidence that metacercariae of Metagonimus , which are commonly found in the scales of various cyprinoids in Central Europe (Danube River in Hungary) do not belong to M. yokogawai . Sequence analysis of the ITS region, 28S rDNA, and cox1 genes showed that this species is clearly distinct from all Asian species, including M. yokogawai , which probably does not occur in Europe. Metacercariae from cyprinoids might belong to Metagonimus romanicus (Ciurea, 1915), an insufficiently known species described from Romania.