Vet World   Vol.14   September-2021  Article-24

Research Article

Veterinary World, 14(9): 2482-2487

https://doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2021.2482-2487

Sparganosis (Spirometra spp.) in Asian Water Monitor (Varanus salvator): A medical implications for veterinarians, breeders, and consumers

Aditya Yudhana1, Ratih Novita Praja2, and Anjani Marisa Kartikasari3
1. Department of Veterinary Science, Division of Veterinary Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya, Indonesia.
2. Department of Veterinary Science, Division of Veterinary Microbiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya, Indonesia.
3. Department of Veterinary Science, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universitas Airlangga, Kampus C Mulyorejo Street, Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia.

Background and Aim: The high prevalence of sparganosis has been reported globally, especially in Asian countries where the majority of individuals consume raw meat from wild-caught reptiles. In Indonesia, similar cases regarding the high prevalence of sparganosis were recorded from wild reptiles such as snakes that utilized for culinary purposes, whereas, there are no data regarding other species such as water monitor lizard (Varanus salvator), which also provided as daily culinary with a high number of trades. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the prevalence of sparganosis in water monitor lizard (V. salvator), which is frequently utilized as culinary products in East Java Province, Indonesia.

Materials and Methods: A total of 313 living wild-caught and captive-bred Asian water monitor lizards were collected from the reptile markets and breeders. All samples were euthanized and observed for the presence of plerocercoid. Identification of the plerocercoid as larval infective stage was made using carmine staining method.

Results: The total prevalence of sparganosis was recorded at 69.64%. A total of 393 plerocercoids were collected in which divided 280 (71.24%) infecting muscles and 113 (28.75%) located in subcutaneous tissues.

Conclusion: To the best of our knowledge, this study not only recorded as the first evidence but also confirms the role of monitor lizards as sparganosis transmitters in Asia and reveals additional routes of sparganosis transmission in Indonesian reptiles. Local conservation laws should be strengthened to effectively control or ban wildlife trade in traditional markets. Moreover, public awareness regarding sparganosis as a neglected zoonotic disease should be applied to prevent disease transmission in Indonesia. Keywords: infectious disease, sparganosis, Spirometra, Varanus salvator.

Keywords: infectious disease, sparganosis, Spirometra, Varanus salvator.

How to cite this article: Yudhana A, Praja RN, Kartikasari AM (2021) Sparganosis (Spirometra spp.) in Asian Water Monitor (Varanus salvator): A medical implications for veterinarians, breeders, and consumers, Veterinary World, 14(9): 2482-2487.

Received: 19-04-2021  Accepted: 17-08-2021     Published online: 23-09-2021

Corresponding author: Aditya Yudhana   E-mail: adityayudhana@fkh.unair.ac.id

DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2021.2482-2487

Copyright: Yudhana, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.