1. High infection rate of zoonotic Eucoleus aerophilus infection in foxes from Serbia
- Author
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Ivan Čapo, Verica Simin, Vesna Lalošević, Dusan Lalosevic, Donato Traversa, and Annamaria Galfi
- Subjects
Male ,Veterinary medicine ,Nematoda ,Vulpes ,Eucoleus boehmi ,Veterinary (miscellaneous) ,030231 tropical medicine ,Foxes ,Capillaria aerophila ,030308 mycology & parasitology ,lcsh:Infectious and parasitic diseases ,03 medical and health sciences ,Feces ,0302 clinical medicine ,red fox ,Zoonoses ,Human medicine ,Prevalence ,Animals ,Humans ,lcsh:RC109-216 ,Sex Ratio ,Nematode Infections ,0303 health sciences ,biology ,Eucoleus aerophilus ,biology.organism_classification ,Infection rate ,3. Good health ,Infectious Diseases ,Nematode ,Insect Science ,Animal Science and Zoology ,Parasitology ,Female ,Nasal Cavity ,Serbia ,Research Article - Abstract
The respiratory capillariid nematode Eucoleus aerophilus (Creplin, 1839) infects wild and domestic carnivores and, occasionally, humans. Thus far, a dozen of human infections have been published in the literature but it cannot be ruled out that lung capillariosis is underdiagnosed in human medicine. Also, the apparent spreading of E. aerophilus in different geographic areas spurs new studies on the epidemiology of this nematode. After the recognition of the first human case of E. aerophilus infection in Serbia, there is a significant merit in enhancing knowledge on the distribution of the nematode. In the present work the infection rate of pulmonary capillariosis was investigated in 70 red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) from the northern part of Serbia by autopsy. The estimated infection rate with Eucoleus aerophilus was 84%. In contrast, by copromicroscopic examination only 38% of foxes were positive. In addition, 10 foxes were investigated for the closely related species in nasal cavity, Eucoleus boehmi, and nine were positive. Our study demonstrates one of the highest infection rates of pulmonary capillariosis in foxes over the world.
- Published
- 2013