Echinococcus multilocularis specimens were collected from gastrointestinal (GI) tracts of red foxes and coyotes of either road-killed or trap-harvested animals (trapped for purposes independent of this study), collected between 2012 and 2017 in Western Canada. Trapped animals were obtained from licensed trappers with the collaboration of the Alberta Trappers Association. GI tracts were screened using a modification of the scraping, filtration and counting technique, to identify and collect Echinococcus spp. worms [35 (link),36 (link)]. We analysed Em worms from 70 coyotes and 13 foxes from northern, central and southern Alberta (AB); four coyotes from north-west British Columbia (BC); and 10 coyotes from southeast Saskatchewan (SK). Extraction of DNA was performed on up to five individual worms per host using the Nucleospin 96 Tissue Kit (Macherey-Nagel, Germany) for samples processed in France (Anses Nancy Laboratory for Rabies and Wildlife) and the E.Z.N.A. MicroElute Genomic DNA Kit (Omega Bio-tek, US) for samples processed in Canada (University of Calgary, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine). Extraction was performed following the manufacturer's instructions, and DNA was stored at −20°C until processed.
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