Raccoons in Europe: disease hazards due to the establishment of an invasive species

Beltrán‐Beck, Beatriz; Garcı́a, Francisco; Gortázar, Christian

doi:10.1007/s10344-011-0600-4

Cited by 135 publications

(105 citation statements)

References 106 publications

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“…Both raccoons and B. procyonis have been introduced into other parts of the world, including Europe and parts of Asia, where cases of neural larva migrans have also been seen in animals or humans (1,9,75,77). Early raccoon introductions into Germany and the former Soviet Union for hunting and the fur trade led to a gradual spread into other areas, and now these animals are present in at least 20 European countries (9,87). In Germany alone, over 100,000 raccoons exist in the wild, with a prevalence of B. procyonis of 71% (1,88).…”

Section: Geographic Occurrencementioning

confidence: 99%

Update on Baylisascariasis, a Highly Pathogenic Zoonotic Infection

2016

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SUMMARYBaylisascaris procyonis, the raccoon roundworm, infects a wide range of vertebrate animals, including humans, in which it causes a particularly severe type of larva migrans. It is an important cause of severe neurologic disease (neural larva migrans [NLM]) but also causes ocular disease (OLM; diffuse unilateral subacute neuroretinitis [DUSN]), visceral larva migrans (VLM), and covert/asymptomatic infections.B. procyonisis common and widespread in raccoons, and there is increasing recognition of human disease, making a clinical consideration of baylisascariasis important. This review provides an update for this disease, especially its clinical relevance and diagnosis, and summarizes the clinical cases of human NLM and VLM known to date. Most diagnosed patients have been young children less than 2 years of age, although the number of older patients diagnosed in recent years has been increasing. The recent development of recombinant antigen-based serodiagnostic assays has aided greatly in the early diagnosis of this infection. Patients recovering with fewer severe sequelae have been reported in recent years, reinforcing the current recommendation that early treatment with albendazole and corticosteroids should be initiated at the earliest suspicion of baylisascariasis. Considering the seriousness of this zoonotic infection, greater public and medical awareness is critical for the prevention and early treatment of human cases.

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Section: Geographic Occurrencementioning

confidence: 99%

Update on Baylisascariasis, a Highly Pathogenic Zoonotic Infection

2016

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“…Raccoons have been identified as a reservoir for numerous pathogens, including Salmonella, Leptospira, and Campylobacter species (149)(150)(151); however, there is only one report of STEC being isolated from raccoon feces. This animal had been residing within the hay barn of a dairy farm (152) and thus may be a spillover host.…”

Section: Raccoonsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Animal Reservoirs of Shiga Toxin-ProducingEscherichia coli

2014

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Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) strains have been detected in a wide diversity of mammals, birds, fish, and several insects. Carriage by most animals is asymptomatic, thus allowing for dissemination of the bacterium in the environment without detection. Replication of the organism may occur in the gastrointestinal tract of some animals, notably ruminants. Carriage may also be passive or transient, without significant amplification of bacterial numbers while in the animal host. Animals may be classified as reservoir species, spillover hosts, or dead-end hosts. This classification is based on the animal's ability to (i) transmit STEC to other animal species and (ii) maintain STEC infection in the absence of continuous exposure. Animal reservoirs are able to maintain STEC infections in the absence of continuous STEC exposure and transmit infection to other species. Spillover hosts, although capable of transmitting STEC to other animals, are unable to maintain infection in the absence of repeated exposure. The large diversity of reservoir and spillover host species and the survival of the organism in environmental niches result in complex pathways of transmission that are difficult to interrupt.

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“…Four reviews were dealing with vascular plants (Table 2), three with singles species focus (Brandes and Müller 2004, Sauerwein 2004, Gramiccia and Gradoni 2006 one considering all invasive plants of Ireland (Stout 2011). Other reviews focused on the raccoon (Procyon lotor; Beltrán-Beck et al 2012) or presented short summaries on invasive birds (Brochier et al 2010), amphibians and reptiles (Moutou and Pastoret 2010), or arthropods (Sanders et al 2010). Aspöck et al (2002) reviewed all human parasites and Aspöck (2008) all pathogens transmitted by arthropods, but without a dedicated focus on alien species.…”

Section: Review Articlesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Alien species and public health impacts in Europe: a literature review

Schindler¹,

Staska²,

Adam³

et al. 2015

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Impacts of alien species on human health have recently become a major issue in medical research and invasion ecology, but comprehensive assessments of this subject are largely lacking. Here, we provide a literature review of alien species with public health impacts in Europe based on a systematic search in the Thomson Reuters Web of Science. We detected 77 relevant articles, of which 21 were reviews and 56 were original research articles. The taxonomic focus was on vascular plants (n=31 articles) and dipterans (n=25 articles). The original research articles mainly covered the spread of the study species, while early invasion stages (introduction, establishment) as well as impact and management were less investigated. Alien species of health concern in Europe are mostly introduced as contaminants, and mostly originate from climatically similar regions of the Northern Hemisphere. In those cases (36% of all articles) when information on the trend in range and abundance was provided, this trend was mostly increasing. We detected little information on the severity of the impacts (two articles) and the interaction with climate change (three articles). In 15 original articles (28%) specific management measures were suggested, in only one article the socioeconomic costs were assessed. We conclude that European research on human health impacts of alien species is biased towards few species, and that several important aspects such as early invasion stages, severity of impact and its temporal trends, and the scale of the socioeconomic costs caused are poorly understood. Interdisciplinary projects bridging gaps between ecologists medical researchers, socioeconomists and public health authorities are required to link alien species to severity and trends of impacts, which is a crucial requisite for risk assessment and decision making.

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Raccoons in Europe: disease hazards due to the establishment of an invasive species

Cited by 135 publications

References 106 publications

Update on Baylisascariasis, a Highly Pathogenic Zoonotic Infection

Update on Baylisascariasis, a Highly Pathogenic Zoonotic Infection

Animal Reservoirs of Shiga Toxin-ProducingEscherichia coli

Alien species and public health impacts in Europe: a literature review

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