Parasitic Diseases of Equids in Iran (1931–2020): a Literature Review
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Sazmand et al. Parasites Vectors (2020) 13:586 https://doi.org/10.1186/s13071-020-04472-w Parasites & Vectors REVIEW Open Access Parasitic diseases of equids in Iran (1931– 2020): a literature review Alireza Sazmand1* , Aliasghar Bahari2 , Sareh Papi1 and Domenico Otranto1,3 Abstract Parasitic infections can cause many respiratory, digestive and other diseases and contribute to some performance conditions in equids. However, knowledge on the biodiversity of parasites of equids in Iran is still limited. The present review covers all the information about parasitic diseases of horses, donkeys, mules and wild asses in Iran published as articles in Iranian and international journals, dissertations and congress papers from 1931 to July 2020. Parasites so far described in Iranian equids include species of 9 genera of the Protozoa (Trypanosoma, Giardia, Eimeria, Klossiella, Cryptosporidium, Toxoplasma, Neospora, Theileria and Babesia), 50 helminth species from the digestive system (i.e., 2 trematodes, 3 cestodes and 37 nematodes) and from other organs (i.e., Schistosoma turkestanica, Echinococcus granulosus, Dictyocaulus arnfeldi, Paraflaria multipapillosa, Setaria equina and 3 Onchocerca spp.). Furthermore, 16 species of hard ticks, 3 mite species causing mange, 2 lice species, and larvae of 4 Gastrophilus species and Hippobosca equina have been reported from equids in Iran. Archeoparasitological fndings in coprolites of equids include Fasciola hepatica, Oxyuris equi, Anoplocephala spp. and intestinal strongyles. Parasitic diseases are important issues in terms of animal welfare, economics and public health; however, parasites and parasitic diseases of equines have not received adequate attention compared with ruminants and camels in Iran. The present review highlights the knowledge gaps related to equines about the presence, species, genotypes and subtypes of Neospora hughesi, Sarcocystis spp., Trichinella spp., Cryptosporidium spp., Giardia duodenalis, Blastocystis and microsporidia. Identifcation of ticks vectoring pathogenic parasites, bacteria and viruses has received little attention, too. The efcacy of common horse wormers also needs to be evaluated systematically. Keywords: Donkey, Equus, Horse, Iran, Mule, Parasite, Review Background early veterinarians in Iran [2]. In his comprehensive book Horses were tamed and brought to Iran by the Aryans on horse medicine (al-Furusiyah wa-al-Baytariyah, in around 3000 years ago [1, 2]. In ancient Iran, the institu- English: Equestrian and Veterinary Services), Ibn Akhi tions for the treatment and care of animals and humans Hozam (died circa 842 A.D.), one of the most authori- are similar, and sometimes the same person was respon- tative fgures in Iranian veterinary literature, described sible for treating both humans and animals. Ancient Ira- the characteristics, habits and diseases of horses as nians considered horses the most important animals, and well as treatment methods with a focus on mange mite ruminants were less so [2]. Te great impact of horses infestation and itching in horses and its transmission to was related to their use in guarding frontiers and in con- humans. Another scientist, Ali ibn Dawud (died circa quests [3]. Several infectious diseases were known to 1363), described gastrointestinal helminthiases of horses in his book Al-aqwal al-Kafyah wa-al-Fusul al-Shafyah *Correspondence: [email protected] fī al-Khayl (in English: Enough Words and Treatment 1 Department of Pathobiology, Faculty of Veterinary Science, Bu-Ali Sina Classes in Horses) [4]. University, Hamedan 6517658978, Iran Full list of author information is available at the end of the article © The Author(s) 2020. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creat iveco mmons .org/licen ses/by/4.0/. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creat iveco mmons .org/publi cdoma in/ zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data. Sazmand et al. Parasites Vectors (2020) 13:586 Page 2 of 19 Modern veterinary knowledge found its way into Iran a progressive weight loss (described as “living skeletons”), during the 1850s via European veterinarians who were loss of appetite and emaciation accompanied by jaundice mainly in charge of royal stables and military services [5]. and highly colored urine [11]. However, the frst record of veterinary parasitology activ- Infection with T. evansi has been reported in horses, ities in Iran is the 1931 report by Carpentier who diag- donkeys and mules in diferent countries in Asia, Africa, nosed Trypanosoma evansi in the blood of sick horses in South America and Europe [12]. Trypanosoma evansi is southern Iran [6]. Since the 1930s, Iranian veterinarians now considered as an emerging zoonotic parasite [13]. have been trained in faculties of veterinary medicine in Trypanosoma was frst reported in Iran in 1876 and was Iran and have conducted modern veterinary parasitology known to be fatal for horses [14]. After massive mor- research. tality of > 3000 horses in 1930 in the south of Iran, T. Tere is no updated ofcial report on the population evansi was diagnosed in the blood of diseased animals of equines in Iran; however, according to the Equestrian [6]. In 1935, an outbreak of surra occurred in camels in Federation of Iran, about 25,000 certifed horses of dif- the surroundings of Tehran [15]. Experimental infec- ferent breeds such as Arabian, Turkmen, Toroughbred, tion of horse and donkey with T. evansi isolated from an Darehshori, Kurd and Caspian are distributed through- infected camel caused disease after an incubation period out the country (H. Katebi, personal communication). of 6 days but the animals could survive after 40 days by Although there are numerous donkeys, working horses the end of the experiment [15, 16]. Although infection and mules in Iran, no information about their popula- rates of up to 19.47% for Trypanosoma spp. infections tions could be obtained from the Ministry of Agriculture have been reported in camels from diferent regions of or from the Veterinary Organization. In this article, we the country [17], there are few reports on T. evansi infec- review the published research on equine parasites in Iran tion in equids. Trypanosoma evansi was diagnosed in from 1931 to July 2020. For this purpose we checked all two outbreaks of surra in mules in Dezfoul in 1961 and available documents on each of the search terms which in horses in Kharameh in 1993 [18]. Association of T. included a combination of Iran or Iranian (in Persian, evansi infection in a mare with abortion in Shiraz has English and French) with each of the generic names of also been documented [19]. Since Iran does not lie within the parasites of equids as mentioned in the reference the tsetse belt, trypomastigotes in animals have usually book “Veterinary Parasitology” [7], the “Handbook of been assigned to T. evansi according to their morphologi- Equine Parasite Control” [8] and checklist of strongylid cal and morphometric features upon microscopic exami- parasites [9]. Te databases and search engines employed nation. Trypanosoma spp. were not detected in the only for the present literature review were those of PubMed PCR-based study on 116 horses, donkeys and mules from (www.pubme d.gov), Google (www.googl e.com), Sci- six geographical regions in Iran [20]. Although no study entifc Information Database of Iran (www.sid.ir), the has been conducted to defne vectors of T. evansi in the collection of defended theses at all Iranian universities country, reports of natural infections with T. evansi in (https ://irand oc.ac.ir/) and the collection of proceed- camels [21], dogs [22] and water bufalo [23] with no his- ings of Iranian scientifc congresses on veterinary medi- tory of travel show that non-cyclic transmission occurs. cine, animal science and parasitology (https ://www.civil Trypanosoma equiperdum is another important veteri- ica.com/). Valid names of the reported parasites in older nary trypanosome infecting equids. Dourine is a disease literature were obtained from updated resources [9, 10]. caused by this species and is endemic in Africa and Asia; Te abstract of present literature review in Persian lan- it is also found in the Middle East, southeastern Europe guage is provided as an Additional fle 1. and South America. Trypanosoma equiperdum is the only trypanosome with transmission occurring during copulation of horses. However, experimental infections Protozoan infections inoculating parasites via the intravenous or intraperi- Trypanosomosis toneal route indicate that mechanical transmission by Trypanosoma evansi is one of the most pathogenic and blood-feeding fies cannot be excluded as a possible economically important protozoan parasites of horses. route [24]. Te infection presents with typical edema of Te disease called “surra” in the acute form is character- the genital organs as well as weakness, emaciation, ure- ized by symptoms such as fuctuating fever, weakness, thral discharge, characteristic plaques in the skin and lethargy, anemia, severe weight loss, transient local or neurological symptoms such as lack of coordination of general cutaneous eruption, petechial hemorrhages on the hind legs. Dourine in horses is generally fatal with- the eyelids, vulvar and vaginal mucosa, hemorrhages into out treatment but is usually subclinical in donkeys and the anterior chamber of the eye, abortion, alteration of mules [25].