The mouse bile duct tapeworm, Hymenolepis microstoma in free-living small mammals in Slovakia: occurrence and genetic analysis

The mouse bile duct tapeworm , is a potentially zoonotic species with a wide variety of reported definitive hosts of rodent genera. In the present study the occurrence of in free-living small mammals in selected areas of Slovakia and the retrospective analysis of epidemiological data published in Slovakia were performed. was detected in two animal species, the common shrew ( ) and the European hamster ( ) of 186 small mammals examined from two ecosystems, urban and natural ecosystem of national park. No mention about the presence of this parasite in Slovakia in the past was found following a bibliographical search. Partial sequences of the nuclear paramyosin gene showed the shrew isolate placed in a subclade together with from Portugal, with high bootstrap value for its differentiation from the sister species . Similarly, the analysis of the nuclear ribosomal ITS region placed the hamster isolate in the cluster composed of from Australia, Spain and Portugal. The Slovak isolate was the most distinctive sample among available , differing in 1.4 – 1.9% of nucleotides from the remaining isolates. The difference (seven of 17 nucleotide positions) was partially due to indel polymorphisms associated with two and five nucleotides. To our knowledge, these are the first reports of in Central Europe and also the first record of infection in the common shrew. A recently indicated zoonotic potential of along with a possibility of its direct transmission between animals and/or humans without the need of intermediate hosts pose a public health concern in contaminated areas of Slovakia. The use of molecular techniques may substantially facilitate more thorough understanding of the epidemiological situation of and related tapeworms in various ecosystems of the country.