The present study reports a rare case of Taenia saginata infection, which was initially diagnosed as acute cholecystitis in a Tibetan patient at the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau pastoral area, China. A 45-year-old female was initially diagnosed with acute cholecystitis at a hospital in China. She had a slight fever, weight loss and constipation and complained of pain in the upper abdomen and left back areas. Increase of monocyte, eosinophil and basophil levels were shown. Taenia sp. eggs were detected in a fecal examination. An adult tapeworm approximately 146 cm in length, whitish-yellow color, was collected from the patient after treatment with traditional Chinese medicine. The adult tapeworm had a scolex and proglottids with genital pores. The scolex was rectangular shape with 4 suckers and rostellum without hooklet. The cox1 gene sequence shared 99.5-99.8% homology with that of T. saginata from other regions in China. The patient was diagnosed finally infected with T. saginata by morphological and molecular charateristics.
Citations
Citations to this article as recorded by
Proteomic and Phosphoproteomic Analysis of Adult Taenia saginata Revealed the Potential Importance of Cytoskeleton-Related Proteins Kang Liu, Kaijuan Wu, Xiaohua Liu, Jing Xie, Yixiao Wang, Chandara Ngim, Die Hu, Yangfan Xiao, Zheng Wang, Yisong Liu, Wei Liu, Liping Jiang Journal of Proteome Research.2025; 24(11): 5727. CrossRef
Coenurosis is an important zoonotic helminthic disease caused by the larval stage of the tapeworm Taenia multiceps. This parasite typically infects the brain of the intermediate hosts, including sheep, goat, cattle and even humans. We report a case of T. multiceps infection in a yak confirmed by clinical symptoms, morphological characteristics, and molecular and phylogenetic analyses. The coenurus was thin-walled, whitish, and spherical in shape with a diameter of 10 cm. The parasite species was identified as T. multiceps by PCR amplification and sequencing of the 18S rRNA, cox1 and nad1 genes. Three gene sequences all showed high homology (all above 97%) with the reference sequences from different hosts. Moreover, phylogenetic reconstructions with the 3 published Taenia gene sequences confirmed that the Qinghai yak isolate was closely related to T. multiceps. Although there are advanced diagnosis and treatment methods for coenurosis, early infection is difficult to diagnose. Importantly, the findings of yak infection case should not be ignored due to its zoonotic potential.
Citations
Citations to this article as recorded by
Treatment and management of coenurosis by Taenia multiceps: field data from outbreaks in endemic regions and literature review I. Abbas, C. Tamponi, G. Madau, L. Cavallo, A. Varcasia, A. Scala Parasites & Vectors.2024;[Epub] CrossRef
Taenia multiceps coenurosis: a review Antonio Varcasia, Claudia Tamponi, Fahad Ahmed, Maria Grazia Cappai, Francesca Porcu, Naunain Mehmood, Giorgia Dessì, Antonio Scala Parasites & Vectors.2022;[Epub] CrossRef
This study was carried out to determine the pathogen-causing diarrhoea in sheep Ovis aries in the Qinghai Tibetan Plateau Area, China. A trophozoite was identified as species of ciliate alveolates infecting the sheep based on morphological characteristics examined by microscope. It was mostly spherical, colourless and transparent, with many vesicles. Macronucleus and contractile vacuoles could not be distinguished. Size of the trophozoite was 80-180 × 70-150 μm and its surface was covered with cilia. Molecular analysis based on sequences of 18S rRNA and ITS genes confirmed the ciliate species as Balantidium coli. According to the literature, there have been many epidemiological investigations of B. coli infection in pigs, monkeys and humans. To our knowledge, this was the first report of B. coli infections in sheep in the Qinghai Tibetan Plateau Area of China, or eleswhere around the world. Importantly, the sheep case was rare but raised our concern that B. coli may spread across species and expand its host range.
Citations
Citations to this article as recorded by
Multicentric Study on Enteric Protists Occurrence in Zoological Parks in Portugal João Mega, Rafaela Moreira, Guilherme Moreira, Ana Silva-Loureiro, Priscilla Gomes da Silva, Claudia Istrate, Sérgio Santos-Silva, Antonio Rivero-Juarez, David Carmena, João R. Mesquita Pathogens.2024; 13(10): 874. CrossRef
Enteric protozoal infections in camels: Etiology, epidemiology, and future perspectives Eman A. Noaman, Mohamed Nayel, Akram Salama, Mona A. Mahmoud, Adel M. El-Kattan, Ali S. Dawood, Ibrahim S. Abd El-Hamid, Ahmed Elsify, Walid Mousa, Ahmed Elkhtam, Ahmed Zaghawa German Journal of Veterinary Research.2023; 3(1): 1. CrossRef
Question of agent of camel balantidiosis solved: Molecular identity, taxonomic solution and epidemiological considerations Lorena Esteban-Sánchez, Mariana Panayotova-Pencheva, Moneeb Qablan, David Modrý, Lada Hofmannová, F. Ponce-Gordo Veterinary Parasitology.2023; 321: 109984. CrossRef
Balantioides coli Francisco Ponce-Gordo, Juan José García-Rodríguez Research in Veterinary Science.2021; 135: 424. CrossRef
Balantidium coli in domestic animals: An emerging protozoan pathogen of zoonotic significance Arslan Ahmed, Muhammad Ijaz, Rana Muhammad Ayyub, Awais Ghaffar, Hammad Nayyar Ghauri, Muhammad Umair Aziz, Sadaqat Ali, Muhammad Altaf, Muhammad Awais, Muhammad Naveed, Yasir Nawab, Muhammad Umar Javed Acta Tropica.2020; 203: 105298. CrossRef
Six cystic metacestodes were found in the abdominal muscles of a wild rabbit, Lepus sinensis, in China. The coenurus contained one or more scolices armed with hooklets. Mitochondrial cox1 (1,623 bp) confirmed 98% homology with cox1 of Taenia serialis. This is the first report of T. serialis infection in an intermediate host in the Qinghai Tibetan Plateau Area, China.
Citations
Citations to this article as recorded by
Parasitic Fauna of Lepus europaeus and Lepus timidus in Kazakhstan: Parasitological Profile and Molecular Identification Vladimir Kiyan, Ainura Smagulova, Nurassyl Manapov, Karina Jazina, Rabiga Uakhit, Aitbay Bulashev, Lyudmila Lider, Sergey Leontyev Biology.2025; 14(8): 1083. CrossRef
Zoonotic parasites associated with predation by dogs and cats Jairo Alfonso Mendoza Roldan, Domenico Otranto Parasites & Vectors.2023;[Epub] CrossRef
Identification and phylogenetic analysis of Taenia spp. parasites found in wildlife in the Emilia-Romagna region, northern Italy (2017–2022) Simone Bariselli, Giulia Maioli, Giovanni Pupillo, Mattia Calzolari, Deborah Torri, Letizia Cirasella, Andrea Luppi, Camilla Torreggiani, Chiara Garbarino, Filippo Barsi, Gianluca Rugna, Michele Dottori International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife.2023; 22: 20. CrossRef
Expansion of Cyclophyllidea Biodiversity in Rodents of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the “Out of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau” Hypothesis of Cyclophyllideans Yao-Dong Wu, Guo-Dong Dai, Li Li, D. Timothy J. Littlewood, John Asekhaen Ohiolei, Lin-Sheng Zhang, Ai-Min Guo, Yan-Tao Wu, Xing-Wei Ni, Nigus Abebe Shumuye, Wen-Hui Li, Nian-Zhang Zhang, Bao-Quan Fu, Yong Fu, Hong-Bin Yan, Wan-Zhong Jia Frontiers in Microbiology.2022;[Epub] CrossRef
Wildlife-transmitted Taenia and Versteria cysticercosis and coenurosis in humans and other primates Peter Deplazes, Ramon M. Eichenberger, Felix Grimm International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife.2019; 9: 342. CrossRef
Coenurosis of Yak, Bos grunniens, caused by Taenia multiceps: A Case Report with Molecular Identification in Qinghai Tibetan Plateau Area, China Xue-Yong Zhang, Ying-Na Jian, Hong Duo, Xiu-Ying Shen, Yi-Juan Ma, Yong Fu, Zhi-Hong Guo The Korean Journal of Parasitology.2019; 57(4): 423. CrossRef
First
Prev
