Marion Wassermann

Marion Wassermann
University of Hohenheim · Institute of Biology, Dept. Parasitology

PD Dr. rer. nat.

About

96
Publications
20,037
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2,399
Citations
Introduction
Marion is a researcher and lecturer in zoology, specialising in parasitology. She has more than 10 years of experience teaching courses at undergraduate and postgraduate level. She has a special interest in zoonoses with a focus in the epidemiology of parasites and their transmission between livestock, wildlife and humans. Her current research area focuses on helminths. In addition, emerging vectors due to climate change and the diseases they transmit are among her areas of interest.
Additional affiliations
January 2010 - present
University of Hohenheim
Position
  • Group Leader
January 2008 - December 2009
University of Hohenheim
Position
  • Research Associate

Publications

Publications (96)
Article
Full-text available
Background Dogs are the most important definitive hosts of zoonotic taeniid helminths worldwide. Different Echinococcus and Taenia species of domestic and wild carnivores pose a potential risk to human population. High populations of free-roaming dogs (FRDs) in urban areas of Iran and widespread contamination of the environment with dog feces is a...
Preprint
Full-text available
Cystic and alveolar echinococcosis are severe zoonotic diseases characterized by long asymptomatic periods lasting months or years. Viable Echinococcus eggs released into the environment through the feces of canids can infect humans through accidental ingestion via hand-to-mouth contact or consumption of contaminated food or water. Both Echinococcu...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
INTRODUCTION: echinococcus multilocularis (Em) is a Taeniidae cestode, spread across the Northern hemisphere, circulating among carnivores as definitive hosts and voles as intermediate, respectively. Moreover, following egg ingestions humans can develop alveolar echinococcosis. In Italy, the first Em-positive foxes were found about 25 years ago in...
Article
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Our knowledge of parasites in wildlife remains limited, primarily due to restricted access to samples, especially of parasites from protected species. This present study contributes to the comprehension of the enigmatic world of helminths of African wild mammals and cestode biodiversity by combining both molecular and morphological analysis. Cestod...
Article
Full-text available
Background Cystic echinococcosis (CE) is a neglected zoonotic disease that is caused by Echinococcus granulosus sensu lato (s.l.), the life cycle of which involves multiple hosts. We conducted a systematic review (SR) on E. granulosus s.l. in the Greater Horn of Africa (GHA), to provide a picture of its recent epidemiology across all hosts. Method...
Article
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Echinococcus canadensis consists of 4 genotypes: G6, G7, G8 and G10. While the first 2 predominantly infect domestic animals, the latter are sylvatic in nature involving mainly wolves and cervids as hosts and can be found in the northern temperate to Arctic latitudes. This circumstance makes the acquisition of sample material difficult, and little...
Article
Full-text available
We investigated the morphology and phylogenetic relationships of novel and previously recognized Sarcocystis spp. infecting small mammals and colubrid snakes in Asia. The nuclear 18S rRNA and mitochondrial cox1 of Sarcocystis sp.1 from mangrove snakes (Boiga dendrophila) in Thailand and Sarcocystis sp.2 from a ricefield rat (Rattus argentiventer) i...
Article
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The present study was conducted in the isolated desert town of Oranjemund in the far south of Namibia. It is an extremely arid region where no livestock husbandry is practiced and only animals adapted to the desert can be found. However, in and around the city, artificial irrigation maintains lush green patches of grass that attract wild animals, i...
Conference Paper
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Gastrointestinal parasites are a major cause of morbidity and sub-optimal performance in domestic animals, including donkeys (Equus asinus). The study determined the prevalence of helminths (worms) in donkeys at slaughter in Bolgatanga and Zuarungu of Upper East Region, Ghana. The isolated worms were identified based on morphological features and f...
Article
Full-text available
Citation: Reinhardt, N.P.; Wassermann, M.; Härle, J.; Romig, T.; Kurzrock, L.; Arnold, J.; Großmann, E.; Mackenstedt, U.; Straubinger, R.K. Helminths in Invasive Raccoons (Procyon lotor) from Southwest Germany. Pathogens 2023, 12, 919. Abstract: As hosts of numerous zoonotic pathogens, the role of raccoons needs to be considered in the One Health...
Article
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Canine babesiosis is an emerging tick-borne disease of major veterinary concern in Europe. Its prevalence has increased in the last two decades and is spreading rapidly toward the north. The aim of this study was to investigate the genetic diversity of Babesia spp. strains isolated from naturally infected dogs in a tick-endemic area (Dobrogea) in s...
Article
Full-text available
An opportunistic survey for Echinococcus spp. in wild mammals was conducted in seven distinct study areas throughout Namibia, representing all major ecosystems, between 2012 and 2021. In total, 184 individually attributable faeces and 40 intestines were collected from eight species of carnivores, and 300 carcasses or organs of thirteen species of u...
Article
Full-text available
Cystic echinococcosis is endemic in humans and domestic animals in eastern Africa. All the species of the Echinococcus granulosus sensu lato complex have been reported in this region except for E. equinus, possibly due to the small number of studies involving equids. This study reports the frequency of different Echinococcus species in donkeys from...
Article
Full-text available
Muskrats (Ondatra zibethicus) are competent intermediate hosts for Echinococcus multilocularis, are frequently infected with this zoonotic cestode, and have even been proposed as a target species to monitor endemicity levels of this parasite. However, their contribution to maintaining the parasitic lifecycle is still unclear. To obtain data on infe...
Article
Full-text available
Cystic echinococcosis (CE) is widespread and locally frequent in southern Africa where it affects humans, livestock, and wild mammals. However, most data from the region are old and do not provide information on the causative Echinococcus species. For Namibian livestock only anecdotal records were available prior to this preliminary survey. Our ret...
Article
Full-text available
Cystic echinococcosis is a socioeconomically important parasitic disease caused by the larval stage of the canid tapeworm Echinococcus granulosus , afflicting millions of humans and animals worldwide. The development of a vaccine (called EG95) has been the most notable translational advance in the fight against this disease in animals. However, alm...
Article
Cysticercosis caused by the larval stages of Taenia hydatigena has a significant global impact on livestock production, particularly of goats and sheep. Despite this, global data on prevalence and genetic variance of this parasite are still scarce. In Ghana, as in most African countries, numerous anecdotal observations agree that it is widespread a...
Article
Taeniosis/cysticercosis and echinococcosis are neglected zoonotic helminth infections with high disease burden caused by tapeworms which circulate between definitive and intermediate host reflecting a predator-prey interaction. Taeniid eggs can remain vital for months, allowing arthropods to mechanically transport them to intermediate hosts. Howeve...
Article
Full-text available
We report on the genetic identity of 36 Echinococcus cysts that were collected during a recent slaughterhouse survey of 810 locally bred camels (dromedaries) in the Eastern Province of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Analysis of a partial nad1 gene sequence showed that the majority (n = 29) belonged to E. granulosus sensu stricto, four to E. canadensi...
Article
Full-text available
The cestode Echinococcus multilocularis is the causative agent of a severe zoonotic disease: alveolar echinococcosis (AE). The parasite is distributed over a vast area in northern Eurasia and North America, but the impact of AE on human health is highly uneven between different regions. One hypothetical reason for this difference in virulence may b...
Article
Full-text available
Infections with eggs of Echinococcus granulosus sensu lato (s.l.) can cause cystic echinococcosis in intermediate host animals and humans. Upon ingestion of viable eggs, oncospheres hatch from the eggs and subsequently develop into fluid-filled larval cysts, most frequently in the liver or the lungs. The slowly growing cysts progressively interfere...
Article
Full-text available
Taenia species of domestic dogs can cause cysticercosis and coenurosis in a wide range of intermediate hosts including humans. Most taeniids of dogs are globally distributed, but some wildlife-transmitted species can be specific for certain regions. Generally, little information exists on the species composition and frequency in most regions of the...
Preprint
Full-text available
Background: Infections with eggs of Echinococcus granulosus sensu lato (s.l.) can cause cystic echinococcosis in intermediate host animals and humans. Upon ingestion of viable eggs, oncospheres hatch from the eggs and subsequently develop into fluid-filled larval cysts, most frequently in the liver or the lungs. The slowly growing cysts progressive...
Preprint
Infections with eggs of Echinococcus granulosus sensu lato ( s . l .) can cause cystic echinococcosis in intermediate host animals and humans. Upon ingestion of viable eggs, oncospheres hatch from the eggs and subsequently develop into fluid-filled larval cysts, most frequently in the liver or the lungs. The slowly growing cysts progressively inter...
Article
Full-text available
Fasciolosis is a neglected tropical foodborne trematodiasis caused by Fasciola hepatica and Fasciola gigantica. It is a widely distributed infection of livestock in Africa but its disease situation is less understood in many countries such as Ghana. In the present study, a cross-sectional survey was conducted at the Bolgatanga abattoir, which is lo...
Article
Cystic echinococcosis (CE) is endemic in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa. In contrast to the eastern part of the continent, very little data exists on the current disease situation in southern Africa including Zambia. This study determined frequency and species identity of Echinococcus spp. circulating in livestock and dogs in the Western Province...
Article
As vectors of pathogens, ticks pose a considerable problem in most parts of the world. Most tick bites in Germany are caused by Ixodes ricinus for which there is no specific scientifically proven control agent available. Although biological control options like entomopathogenic fungi are known, there is a lack of studies on formulation and applicab...
Article
Cystic echinococcosis (CE) is a neglected zoonotic disease with considerable economic and public health burden worldwide, particularly affecting developing countries like Ethiopia. To initiate effective prevention and control of CE, comprehensive data on the local lifecycles of the various species/genotypes of Echinococcus are needed. In the presen...
Article
Fasciolosis, a food- and waterborne infection caused by the trematodes Fasciola hepatica and F. gigantica, is recognized by WHO as a neglected zoonotic disease. Whereas F. hepatica is distributed worldwide in cooler climates, F. gigantica occurs mainly in the tropics of Africa and Asia. The southern Caucasus, with Armenia, is one of the most northe...
Article
All canine hookworms are known to be zoonotic, causing infections ranging from transient skin irritations to prolonged ‘creeping eruptions’, eosinophilic enteritis and even patent intestinal infections. There is little information on canine hookworm species and their public health significance in sub-Saharan Africa. This study determined the preval...
Article
Full-text available
Cystic echinococcosis (CE) of humans and animals is caused by various species of Echinococcus granulosus sensu lato. Of these, E. granulosus sensu stricto has the widest geographical distribution and is the most important agent of human cystic echinococcosis. Previous molecular studies showed that E. granulosus s.s. isolates from the Middle East an...
Poster
Entomopathogenic fungi (EPF) of the genus Metarhizium are promising candidates as biological control agent against a multitude of severe arthropod pests. However, to achieve high efficacy in the field, the development of suitable formulations is indispensable. The project BIOZEC aims at the development of a biological control agents against ticks b...
Article
Fasciola hepatica and Fasciola gigantica are the causal agents of the zoonotic food-born disease fascioliasis. Africa is primarily endemic to F. gigantica, although sympatric presence of F. hepatica is known for some countries. The present situation of fascioliasis in western Africa, and Ghana in particular, is still poorly understood, and studies...
Article
Full-text available
The European distribution of Echinococcus multilocularis has been reported to be expanding east and north, whereas its southern limits are deemed stable. During a study on Echinococcus granulosus s.l. infections in wolves and dogs in the Italian Maritime Alps, we unexpectedly detected the presence of E. multilocularis eggs in four fecal samples fro...
Article
Full-text available
Cystic echinococcosis (CE) is a zoonotic disease caused by the larval stage of Echinococcus granulosus species (sensu lato, s.l.). In East Africa, several species/strains occur in livestock, wildlife, and humans, but there is limited information on frequencies of infection by different genotypes in the various mammalian hosts. We have obtained data...
Article
Cystic echinococcosis (CE) is a globally endemic zoonosis caused by the larval stage of the Echinococcus granulosus sensu lato (s.l.) complex. Although the disease is known to be highly prevalent in certain parts of North and East Africa, data on CE, both in humans and definitive hosts, are extremely scarce for Central Africa. The present study ass...
Article
Cystic echinococcosis is endemic both in livestock and humans in many parts of Kenya. However, very little data exists on Echinococcus infections in dogs, and therefore their role in maintaining the transmission cycles and environmental contamination with eggs of Echinococcus species is unknown. The study aimed to establish the prevalence and distr...
Article
Full-text available
We examined Sarcocystis spp. in giant snakes from the Indo-Australian Archipelago and Australia using a combination of morphological (size of sporocyst) and molecular analyses. We amplified by PCR nuclear 18S rDNA from single sporocysts in order to detect mixed infections and unequivocally assign the retrieved sequences to the corresponding parasit...
Article
Among the genotype/species causing cystic echinococcosis (CE), the taxonomic status of Echinococcus canadensis is only partially resolved. Within E. canadensis, four genotypes (G6, G7, G8 and G10) have been described based on short mitochondrial sequences, of which G6 and G7 (the ‘camel’ and the ‘pig’ strain, respectively) are closely related and v...
Chapter
The genus Echinococcus is composed of eight generally recognized species and one genotypic cluster (Echinococcus canadensis cluster) that may in future be resolved into one to three species. For each species, we review existing information on transmission routes and life cycles in different geographical contexts and – where available – include basi...
Article
The zoonotic cestode Echinococcus ortleppi (Lopez-Neyra and Soler Planas, 1943) is mainly transmitted between dogs and cattle. It occurs worldwide but is only found sporadically in most regions, with the notable exception of parts of southern Africa and South America. Its epidemiology is little understood and the extent of intraspecific variability...
Article
Complete mitochondrial (mt) and two nuclear gene sequences of a novel genotype (GOmo) related to Echinococcus granulosus sensu stricto (s.s.) are described from a metacestode isolate retrieved from a human patient in southwestern Ethiopia. Phylogenetically, the genotype is positioned within the E. granulosus s.s. / Echinococcus felidis cluster, but...
Article
Echinococcus granulosus (sensu lato) is now recognized as an assemblage of cryptic species, which differ considerably in morphology, development, host specificity (including infectivity/pathogenicity for humans) and other aspects. One of these species, E. granulosus sensu stricto (s.s.), is now clearly identified as the principal agent causing cyst...
Conference Paper
Zecken stellen als Vektoren einer Vielzahl von Krankheitserregern ein erhebliches Problem dar. Eine mögliche Strategie das Übertragungsrisiko von Krankheiten zu minimieren ist die Bekämpfung der Vektoren. Derzeit gibt es jedoch keine wissenschaftlich anerkannten Bekämpfungsmaßnahmen gegen Ixodes ricinus. Im Rahmen des Projekts BIOZEC wird daher ei...
Article
The entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium anisopliae is used as a biological pest control agent against various arthropod species, including ticks. However, the efficacy depends on tick species, tick stage and fungus strain. We studied the effect of M. anisopliae on engorged larvae and nymphs of Ixodes ricinus, the most abundant tick species in Europ...
Article
Echinococcus granulosus, formerly regarded as a single species with a high genotypic and phenotypic diversity, is now recognised as an assemblage of cryptic species, which differ considerably in morphology, development, host specificity (including infectivity/pathogenicity for humans) and other aspects. This diversity is reflected in the mitochondr...
Conference Paper
Various species of Echinococcus and Taenia had been described in the past from wild mammals of sub-Saharan Africa. However, only few isolates have become available for molecular identification in recent years, which means that the involvement of wildlife in the lifecycles of the various cryptic species within E. granulosus sensu lato is still littl...
Article
Full-text available
Various species of Echinococcus have been described in the past from wild mammals of sub-Saharan Africa. However, it is only recently, that a few isolates have become available for molecular identification; therefore, the involvement of wildlife in the lifecycles of the various cryptic species within Echinococcus granulosus sensu lato is still only...
Article
Full-text available
Research on cystic echinococcosis (CE) has a long history in Kenya, but has mainly concentrated on two discrete areas, Turkana and Maasailand, which are known to be foci of human CE in Africa. Here, we report on a survey for CE in livestock from central to northeastern Kenya, from where no previous data are available. A total of 7,831 livestock car...
Conference Paper
Various species of Echinococcus and Taenia had been described in the past from wild mammals of sub-Saharan Africa. However, only few isolates have become available for molecular identification in recent years, which means that the involvement of wildlife in the lifecycles of the various cryptic species within E. granulosus sensu lato is still littl...
Article
Full-text available
Ticks and tick-borne diseases are of great significance for the health of humans and animals. However, the factors influencing their distribution and dynamics are inadequately known. In a project financed by the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of the Environment, Climate and Energy Industry, as part of the program BWPLUS, interdisciplinary specialists w...
Article
Full-text available
To investigate the presence of Echinococcus spp. in wild mammals of Kenya, 832 faecal samples from wild carnivores (lions, leopards, spotted hyenas, wild dogs and silver-backed jackals) were collected in six different conservation areas of Kenya (Meru, Nairobi, Tsavo West and Tsavo East National Parks, Samburu and Masai Mara National Reserves). Tae...
Conference Paper
Background: Cystic echinococcosis is most prevalent in resource-poor regions where the identification of CE agents is restricted by the lack of sophisticated laboratory equipment. The precise identification, however, is a substantial requirement for understanding the epidemiology of the disease. Methods: To facilitate the specific identification of...
Article
Full-text available
Background: Cystic echinococcosis (CE) or hydatid disease is a neglected, economically important zoonotic disease endemic in pastoralist communities, in particular the Turkana community of Kenya. It is caused by the larval stage of the highly diverse species complex of Echinococcus granulosus sensu lato (s.l). The situation on the genetic diversity...
Article
Cystic echinococcosis is a serious and neglected parasitic zoonosis that is regarded as an emerging disease world-wide. Effective control of the disease is based on understanding the variability of Echinococcus granulosus (sensu lato), as genotypic characteristics may influence lifecycle patterns, development rate, and transmission. No molecular ep...
Article
To facilitate the specific identification of Echinococcus spp. isolates in endemic countries, a LAMP (loop-mediated isothermal amplification) assay was developed to detect the various agents known to cause cystic echinococcosis (E. granulosus s. s., E. equinus, E. ortleppi, E. canadensis and E. felidis). The infectivity of the different species and...
Conference Paper
Various species of Echinococcus and Taenia had been described in the past from wild mammals of sub-Saharan Africa. However, only few isolates have become available for molecular identification in recent years, which means that the involvement of wildlife in the lifecycles of the various cryptic species within E. granulosus sensu lato is still littl...
Article
Full-text available
Abstract An epidemiological survey of cystic echinococcosis (CE) in cattle and sheep was conducted from October 2009 to October 2011 in endemic areas of north-eastern and southern Romania. A total of 8569 animals (3043 cattle and 5526 sheep) were examined, and hydatid cysts were found in 984 (32.34%) cattle and 2756 (49.87%) sheep, respectively. Th...
Article
Full-text available
Cystic echinococcosis (CE) is a zoonotic disease caused by several members of the Echinococcus granulosus species complex. In East Africa, several species/strains are known to occur in livestock and humans, but host preferences, relative frequencies and spatial distribution of these taxa are poorly known. Here, we contribute livestock data for Maas...
Conference Paper
Cystic echinococcosis in Africa is caused by a number of different Echinococcus species, i. e. E. granulosus sensu stricto, E. equinus, E. ortleppi, E. canadensis and E. felidis. Apart from this interspecific diversity, considerable genetic polymorphism of Echinococcus granulosus sensu stricto (cluster G1-G3) was recently demonstrated for parts of...
Article
Cystic echinococcosis occurs in most regions of sub-Saharan Africa, but the frequency of this zoonosis differs considerably among and within countries. Especially human cases seem to be focally distributed. A number of environmental and behavioural factors partially explain this pattern, i.e. density of livestock, presence of dogs, uncontrolled sla...
Article
Full-text available
In Europe, cystic echinococcosis is rare in horses and is mostly diagnosed at slaughter or postmortem examination. Equine cystic echinococcosis can be caused by various Echinococcus taxa, but only Echinococcus equinus (the "horse strain") is known to produce fertile cysts. In Europe, E. equinus appears to be endemic in Great Britain, Ireland, Spain...
Article
Cystic echinococcosis, caused by different species of the Echinococcus granulosus complex, is an important zoonotic disease with a particular impact on pastoralist societies. In addition to the widespread taxa with synanthropic transmission, a number of Echinococcus species were described from African wild carnivores early in the 20th century. For...
Article
We examined 71 faecal samples of carnivores from Queen Elizabeth National Park (QENP), Uganda, for eggs of Echinococcus species. Thirty-nine faecal samples contained taeniid eggs. For species diagnosis, DNA was isolated from a total of 1984 individual taeniid eggs. To differentiate eggs of Echinococcus felidis from other taeniid taxa (including the...
Article
Full-text available
A sample of 22 Echinococcus granulosus iso-lates collected from 12 sheep and ten humans from a focus of cystic echinococcosis in western Turkey was examined by DNA sequencing of four mitochondrial genes (cox1, atp6, nad1, rrnS). Results demonstrated the presence of two species of E. granulosus complex, E. granulosus sensu stricto and E. canadensis....
Article
Full-text available
45 red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) from various regions of Latvia were examined by necropsy between 2003 and 2008 for the presence and infection intensity of Echinococcus multilocularis. The overall prevalence was 35.6 %, with the intensity of infection ranging from 1 to 1438. Although a limited number of foxes were examined, the prevalence was high and...