Predators in northern Germany are reservoirs for parasites of One Health concern

Abstract

Urbanisation and invasion of wildlife into urban areas as well as human leisure activities create diverse wildlife-domestic animal-human interfaces, increasing the risk of (zoonotic) parasite spillover from sylvatic to domestic and synanthropic cycles. This study investigated the endo- and ectoparasite fauna, emphasising on parasites of One Health Concern, of the most common predators in northern Germany between November 2013 and January 2016. Eighty red foxes (Vulpes vulpes), 18 stone martens (Martes foina) and nine raccoon dogs (Nyctereutes procyonoides) were available for the study. Overall, 79 (73.8%) of the examined predators (n=107) harboured at least one endoparasite. The most frequently detected endoparasites in red foxes were Toxocara canis (43.8% positive individuals), Capillaria spp. (36.3%), Alaria alata (25.0%), Echinococcus multilocularis (26.3%) and Uncinaria stenocephala (25.0%). Furthermore, Toxascaris leonina, Trichuris vulpis, Taenia ssp., Mesocestoides spp. and coccidian oocysts were observed. The endoparasite species richness in raccoon dogs was comparable to red foxes, while in stone martens, only Capillaria spp. were found. Muscle digestion for detection of Trichinella spp. and antigen testing for Giardia spp. did not show positive results. Ectoparasite analyses revealed infestations with ticks species of the genus Ixodes as well as Dermacentor reticulatus. Scabies mites were not present in digested skin samples, while Demodex spp. mites were observed by faecal flotation in one red fox. Furthermore, fleas (Archaeopsylla erinacei and Chaetopsylla globiceps) were observed in the fur of red foxes, while lice were not present in any predator species. However, infestation frequency with ectoparasites was with 19.2% generally low in available predator skins (n=99). Overall, the present study showed that predators in northern Germany serve as reservoirs for parasites of One Health concern, with four of the five most frequent endoparasites being zoonotic, highlighting the need of parasite surveillance in wildlife predators in order to implement measures avoiding spillovers to domestic animals and humans.

Copro-Molecular Identification of Tapeworms in Introduced Invasive Carnivores in Poland

“…was lower than that obtained in the Lithuanian (30.6% [15]) and Danish (23.2% [16]) surveys. On the other hand, in recent studies in Germany, no case of this helminth was recorded [22]. Our study supports the dominant occurrence of M. litteratus in carnivores from central Europe, in accordance with previous studies [25,39].…”

“…Echinococcus multilocularis DNA was absent from our study samples, suggesting that raccoon dogs can be considered unimportant as reservoir hosts for this parasite in Poland. This agrees with recent studies from Denmark [9] and Germany [22], although E. multilocularis is prevalent in raccoon dogs from other European countries, such as Lithuania and Latvia [12]. The absence of E. multilocularis-positive raccoon dogs in this study cannot exclude a negligible prevalence of these parasites in Polish raccoon dogs, especially since this cestode species is recorded with a high prevalence in red foxes in Poland [40].…”

“…Among cestodes, several previous studies revealed infections with Mesocestoides spp. in raccoons and raccoon dogs [4,8,16,21,22]. The species of Mesocestoides Valliant, 1863 (Cyclophyllidea: Mesocestoididae) are cestodes that have been noted globally, other than in Australia and Antarctica.…”

Zoonotic parasites: the One Health challenge

“…opossums have been investigated in the Americas, highlighting the risks of pathogen transmission due to the direct and indirect interactions between humans and domestic animals and Didelphis (Bezerra-Santos et al 2021a ). The same risks for pathogen transmission have been shown for many carnivores (e.g., red foxes, stone martens and raccoon dogs) from periurban areas in northern Germany, demonstrating the potential impact of human encroachment on destruction of forests and local environments (Waindok et al 2021 ). An important focus is zoonotic vector-borne diseases (VBDs) in the less known areas of Iran and Pakistan, where up to 47% of dogs yielded positive results for VBDs, some of which are of zoonotic concern (Iatta et al 2021 ).…”

A Unique Case of Fatal Coinfection Caused by Leptospira spp. and Hepatozoon canis in a Red Fox Cub (Vulpes vulpes)

“…Red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) are the most common and widespread wild carnivores in Europe, and they are well-recognised hosts for many pathogens shared between wild and domestic animals and humans as well. Many of these pathogenic agents cause severe illnesses in domestic animals and may represent a significant threat to public health [1][2][3].…”