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Trichinella spiralis Owen, 1835 in American minks (Neovison vison Schreber, 1777) and wild rodents (Muridae and Cricetidae) in Chile.
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  • Hellen Espinoza-Rojas,
  • Felipe Lobos-Chávez,
  • Carolina Silva-de la Fuente,
  • Diana Echeverry,
  • Javiera Muñoz-Galaz,
  • Claudio Yáñez-Crisóstomo,
  • Pablo Oyarzún-Ruiz,
  • Rene Ortega,
  • Daniel Sandoval,
  • AnaLía Henríquez,
  • Lucila Moreno Salas,
  • Gerardo Acosta,
  • Carlos Landaeta-Aqueveque
Hellen Espinoza-Rojas
Universidad de Concepcion

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Felipe Lobos-Chávez
Universidad de Concepción
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Carolina Silva-de la Fuente
Universidad Austral de Chile
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Diana Echeverry
Universidad de Concepción
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Javiera Muñoz-Galaz
Universidad de Concepción
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Claudio Yáñez-Crisóstomo
Universidad de Concepción
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Pablo Oyarzún-Ruiz
Universidad de Concepción
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Rene Ortega
Universidad de Concepción
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Daniel Sandoval
Universidad de Concepción
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AnaLía Henríquez
Universidad San Sebastián
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Lucila Moreno Salas
Universidad de Concepción
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Gerardo Acosta
Universidad Austral de Chile
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Carlos Landaeta-Aqueveque
Universidad de Concepción
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Abstract

Trichinellosis is a worldwide disease that is considered emerging and neglected. Several hosts have been recognized around the world, however, there is a lack of knowledge of the role of free-range mammals in Chile. Herein we examined 555 individuals among American minks (Neovison vison Schreber, 1777. n = 100) and several myomorph rodent species (Muridae and Cricetidae. n = 455) from southern Chile with artificial digestion and molecular analyses. Rodents were captured in agricultural and wild protected areas, while minks were captured in mixed agricultural and unprotected wild areas. One rat (0.24%) in the Ñuble Administrative Region and seven minks (8.2%) in the Los Ríos Region were infected with Trichinella spiralis Owen, 1835. Our results suggest that native rodents are of low or null importance in the reservoir of T. spiralis in Chile. Conversely, our results suggest that T. spiralis is circulating in minks, but with low prevalence. Further studies are needed to assess whether minks are maintaining T. spiralis life cycle or are a dead-end host of this parasite in Chile. This study represents the first record of T. spiralis in a mustelid mammal in South America, increasing the number of free-range species that could participate in the reservoir.