<abstract xml:lang="en" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>Due to specific geographical localization, climatic and geomorphologic conditions, several serious parasitic diseases circulate in the territory of the Slovak Republic that makes this area an ideal model territory of the central European red fox system. The red fox is an important reservoir host of parasites, which can be spread to another animals and humans. Our study was aimed at determining the current prevalence of certain parasites in red foxes from the entire territory of the Slovak Republic and identifies some ecological factors influencing their epidemiology. Within the first systematic investigation of red foxes carried out between the years 2000 and 2006 in total 4026 foxes were examined for Echinococcus multilocularis (prevalence 31.1 %) and 4699 foxes were investigated for the presence of Trichinella spp. larvae (10.4 % infected). The results of the next separate study revealed that 83.3 % of 1198 red foxes in the Slovak Republic had coccidian oocysts and helminth eggs in their faeces. Fifteen helminth species including two trematode, four cestode and nine nematode species were detected by coprological examination. Nine of these parasite taxa have zoonotic potential: Capillaria spp. (prevalence 22.4 %), Ancylostoma caninum (18.1 %), Toxocara canis (12.5 %), Taenia spp. (12.2 %), Mesocestoides spp. (5.8 %), Strongyloides stercoralis (1.6 %), Hymenolepis diminuta (0.6 %), Dipylidium caninum (0.4 %) and Opisthorchis felineus (0.3 %). Toxascaris leonina was the most common helminth species found in this survey (42.9 %).</p></abstract>

Due to specific geographical localization, climatic and geomorphologic conditions, several serious parasitic diseases circulate in the territory of the Slovak Republic that makes this area an ideal model territory of the central European red fox system. The red fox is an important reservoir host of parasites, which can be spread to another animals and humans. Our study was aimed at determining the current prevalence of certain parasites in red foxes from the entire territory of the Slovak Republic and identifies some ecological factors influencing their epidemiology. Within the first systematic investigation of red foxes carried out between the years 2000 and 2006 in total 4026 foxes were examined for Echinococcus multilocularis (prevalence 31.1 %) and 4699 foxes were investigated for the presence of Trichinella spp. larvae (10.4 % infected). The results of the next separate study revealed that 83.3 % of 1198 red foxes in the Slovak Republic had coccidian oocysts and helminth eggs in their faeces. Fifteen helminth species including two trematode, four cestode and nine nematode species were detected by coprological examination. Nine of these parasite taxa have zoonotic potential: Capillaria spp. (prevalence 22.4 %), Ancylostoma caninum (18.1 %), Toxocara canis (12.5 %), Taenia spp. (12.2 %), Mesocestoides spp. (5.8 %), Strongyloides stercoralis (1.6 %), Hymenolepis diminuta (0.6 %), Dipylidium caninum (0.4 %) and Opisthorchis felineus (0.3 %). Toxascaris leonina was the most common helminth species found in this survey (42.9 %).

Endoparasites of red fox (Vulpes vulpes) in the Slovak Republic with the emphasis on zoonotic species Echinococcus multilocularis and Trichinella spp.

Parasitological Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Hlinkova 3, 040 01, Košice, Slovak Republic

Helminthologia

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Due to specific geographical localization, climatic and geomorphologic conditions, several serious parasitic diseases circulate in the territory of the Slovak...

Endoparasites of red fox (Vulpes vulpes) in the Slovak Republic with the emphasis on zoonotic species Echinococcus multilocularis and Trichinella spp.

Published Online: Jun 21, 2009

Page range: 73 - 79

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/s11687-009-0015-x

Keywords
parasite, red fox, Echinococcus multilocularis, Trichinella spp.

© 2009 Institute of Parasitology, SAS, Košice, Slovakia

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Endoparasites of red fox (Vulpes vulpes) in the Slovak Republic with the emphasis on zoonotic species Echinococcus multilocularis and Trichinella spp.

Published Online: Jun 21, 2009

Page range: 73 - 79

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/s11687-009-0015-x

Keywordsparasite, red fox, Echinococcus multilocularis, Trichinella spp.

© 2009 Institute of Parasitology, SAS, Košice, Slovakia

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
parasite, red fox, Echinococcus multilocularis, Trichinella spp.