Significance of the red fox as a natural reservoir of intestinal zoonoses in Vojvodina, Serbia

Abstract

In the present study, 223 foxes were collected from various localities in the northern part of the Republic of Serbia (Vojvodina province) and examined for intestinal helminths. Among the examined foxes 178 (79.8%) were infected. The most frequently identified parasites were Mesocestoides spp. (49.3%) and Toxascaris leonina (36.3%). The parasite with the lowest prevalence was Pterygodermatites affinis (0.9%), and this is the first confirmed finding in Serbia. The other recovered species were Alaria alata (25.6%), Taenia spp. (6.3%), Echinococcus multilocularis (13%), Toxocara canis (16.6%) and Uncinaria stenocephala (14.8%). The highest number of foxes infected with E. multilocularis were in the Srem area. The results of this study indicate the presence of helminth species in red foxes in Vojvodina which may also infect humans.

Intestinal helminth infections in the golden jackal (Canis aureus L.) from Vojvodina: Hotspot area of multilocular echinococcosis in Serbia

“…This finding was the first report of E. multilocularis in jackals on the European continent (Sz ell et al, 2013). In the current study, the prevalence of E. multilocularis was 14.1%, with all infected jackals originating from the Srem region, which reflects the infection seen in red foxes as reported by Miljevi c et al (2019). To explain the presence of the parasite in this part of Vojvodina, the authors hypothesise that infection can freely spread via mobile wildlife between Croatia and Srem, which are geographically continuous; the river Danube would act as a barrier preventing the disease from spreading further north into Ba cka and Banat.…”

“…The present results demonstrate that golden jackals from Vojvodina are hosts of eight intestinal helminth species. A previous study found a similar parasite fauna in red foxes from the same sampling area in Vojvodina examined between 2015 and 2018 (Miljevi c et al, 2019); however, in the present study, Pterygodermatites affinis was not recorded in jackals. These findings indicate that identical ecological conditions and physical environment may have a greater impact on the presence of certain parasite species, regardless of their definitive host.…”

“…The parasite species was first reported in golden jackals in Vojvodina, Serbia (Lalo sevi c et al, 2016). This is the only province in Serbia where the presence of E. multilocularis has been reported (Lalo sevi c et al, 2016;Miljevi c et al, 2019), with the exception of one isolated case from Ma cva district (a region separated from the southern part of Vojvodina by the river Sava), where the parasite was found in its paratenic host, the European beaver (Castor fiber L., 1758) ( Cirovi c et al, 2013). Other studies of the definitive host out of Vojvodina have not detected affected animals ( Cirovi c et al, 2015a( Cirovi c et al, , 2015bIli c et al, 2016).…”

“…One of them is Echinococcus multilocularis Leuckart, 1863 that may cause one of the most dangerous parasitic zoonoses in the world. In Serbia, E. multilocularis has previously been recorded from jackals and foxes only on the territory of Vojvodina Province (Lalo sevi c et al, 2016;Miljevi c et al, 2019). It is estimated that 43% of human zoonotic infections with this tapeworm originate from wild carnivores (Cleaveland et al, 2001), which are generally known to play an important role in the development and distribution patterns of numerous parasites.…”

Infestation of wild boar meat from the Eastern Lublin province with Alaria mesocercariae

“…The trematodes of the Alaria genus are parasites of many wild and domestic carnivores, mainly foxes, wolves, raccoons, dogs and cats (3,10,12,16,18,34,37). The parasite has a complex life cycle with two intermediate hosts.…”