RESUMO
BACKGROUND: More than a hundred species of mammals, birds, and reptiles are infected by nematodes of the Trichinella genus worldwide. Although, Trichinella spp. are widely distributed in neighboring countries including Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkey and Iran, no study was conducted in Armenia since 1980's. METHODS: In 2017-2018, five muscle samples belonging to Armenian lynx, otter, wild boar, fox and wolf were tested for Trichinella spp. and recovered larvae were identified by multiplex PCR technique. RESULTS: Twenty-six larvae/gram and one larva/gram were found in lynx and fox samples respectively. They were identified as T. britovi. CONCLUSION: So far only two species were identified in Armenia, T. spiralis and T. pseudospiralis, and this is the first time that T. britovi is reported in Armenia.
RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) causes serious health problems in humans. Though ticks of the genera Hyalomma play a significant role in the CCHF virus transmission it was also found in 31 other tick species. METHODS: Totally, 1412 ticks from 8 remote sites in Armenia during 2016 were sampled, pooled (3-5 ticks per pool) and tested for the presence of CCHFV antigen using ELISA test. RESULTS: From 359 tick pools, 132 were CCHF virus antigen-positive. From 6 tick species, four species (Rhipicephalus sanguineus, R. annulatus, R. bursa, Hyalomma marginatum) were positive for the virus antigen and R. sanguineus was the most prevalent (37.9%). Dermacentor marginatus and Ixodes ricinus revealed no positive pools, but both revealed delectable but very low virus antigen titers. The highest infection rate (50%) was observed in R. sanguineus, whereas H. marginatus rate of infection was 1 out of 17 pools. CONCLUSION: For the first time in the last four decades CCHF virus antigen was detected in Ixodid ticks of Armenia. This finding substantiates the role of R. sanguineus in the disease epidemiology; however, the role of H. marginatum in the CCHF virus circulation in the country could not be excluded.
