Veterinary Parasitology 236 (2017) 55–57

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Veterinary Parasitology journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/vetpar

Short communication

Oestrosis in Asiatic ibex (Capra sibirica): a case report and molecular characterization of larvae Antonio Sánchez a , Noelia Caparrós a , Stephane Ostrowski b , Mathieu Sarasa c , Jesús M. Pérez d,∗ a

Departamento de Biología Experimental, Universidad de Jaén, Campus Las Lagunillas, s.n., E-23071 Jaén, Spain Wildlife Conservation Society, 2300 Southern Blvd, 10460 Bronx, New York, USA c Fédération Nationale des Chasseurs, 13, Rue du Général Leclerc, 92136 Issy-Les-Moulineaux Cedex, France d Departamento de Biología Animal, Biología Vegetal y Ecología, Universidad de Jaén, Campus Las Lagunillas, s.n., E-23071, Jaén, Spain b

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history: Received 30 January 2017 Accepted 2 February 2017 Keywords: Capra sibirica COI Tian Shan mountain range Oestrus ovis

a b s t r a c t Three third-instar Oestrus larvae were found in the frontal sinus of an adult female Asiatic ibex (Capra sibirica) in the Tian Shan mountain range, Kyrgyzstan. The larvae were identified as Oestrus ovis based on morphology and after sequencing and analyzing a fragment of the cytochrome oxidase I (COI) gene. In light of this identification and the fact that Asiatic ibex and livestock are sympatric in many areas in Central Asia, we discuss the risks of interspecific parasite spillover. © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction The Asiatic ibex (Capra sibirica), also called Siberian or Himalayan ibex (Sarasa et al., 2012), is a wild Bovidae species living in the high mountain ranges of Central Asia stretching across parts of Afghanistan, China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan (Shackleton, 1997). Its current conservation status is considered “Least Concern” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature due to presumed large populations and an unknown population trend (Reading and Shank, 2008). Several parasite species have been found in the Asiatic ibex: coccidia (Tilc and Hanuskova, 1976), helminths (Danzan and Drozdz, 1964; Tilc and Hanuskova, 1976; Kuchboev et al., 2015) and Sarcoptes scabiei, the agent of sarcoptic mange (Vyrypaev, 1985). Two nasal bot flies have been reported parasitizing the species: Oestrus caucasicus and O. ovis (Grunin, 1957; Minar et al., 1985; Colwell et al., 2006). However, these species were identified from larvae phenotypes, a difficult approach, as Oestrus larvae belonging to different species can be morphologically very similar (Wetzel and Bauristhene, 1970; Guitton et al., 2001). Molecular characterization is a more accurate method to identify Oestrus larvae specimens (Moreno et al., 2015).

The main goal of this study was to determine the identity of Oestrus larvae parasitizing a recently dead Asiatic ibex using a molecular characterization approach, and to increase our understanding of parasite spillover risk between livestock and wildlife in Central Asian highlands. 2. Materials and methods 2.1. Collection and morphological identification of larvae A recently dead (