Intestinal parasites of the red fox (Vulpes vulpes) in Slovenia

Vergles Rataj, Aleksandra and Posedi, Janez and Žele, Diana and Vengušt, Gorazd (2013) Intestinal parasites of the red fox (Vulpes vulpes) in Slovenia. Acta Veterinaria Hungarica, 61 (4). pp. 454-462. ISSN 0236-6290

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Abstract

In the present study, 428 foxes were collected and examined for intestinal helminths using the washing-out method. Parasites were found in 93.2% of the examined animals. The most frequently identified nematodes were Uncinaria stenocephala (58.9%), Toxocara canis (38.3%) and Molineus patens (30.6%). Other nematodes found were Pterygodermatites affinis (4.2%), Capillaria sp. (2.8%), Crenosoma vulpis (2.8%), Toxascaris leonina (2.5%), Trichuris vulpis (0.7%) and Physaloptera sp. (0.2%). Mesocestoides sp. (27.6%) and Taenia crassiceps (22.2%) were the most prevalent cestodes, followed by T. polyacantha (6.5%), Hymenolepis nana (2.1%), T. pisiformis (2.1%) and Dipylidium caninum (1.4%). The study also revealed four trematode species: Rossicotrema donicum (1.6%), Heterophyes heterophyes (1.1%), Metagonimus yokogawai (1.1%), Prohemistomum appendiculatum (0.4%) and two protozoan species: oocysts of Sarcocystis (2.8%) and Isospora (0.4%). This is the first extensive study on the intestinal parasites of the red fox (Vulpes vulpes) in Slovenia. The 2.6% prevalence of Echinococcus multilocularis in the same sample population as investigated herein has been reported previously (Vergles Rataj et al., 2010).

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