First findings of Trichinella spiralis and DNA of Echinococcus multilocularis in wild raccoon dogs in the Netherlands

The recent invasion of the raccoon dog in the Netherlands may be associated with the risk of introduction and spread of zoonotic pathogens. The aim of this study was to assess whether Echinococcus multilocularis and Trichinella spp. infections are present in Dutch raccoon dogs. Between 2013 and 2014, nine raccoon dogs, mainly road kills, were collected for necropsies. One raccoon dog tested repeatedly positive in the qPCR for E. multilocularis. The positive raccoon dog was collected in the province of Flevoland, which is not a known endemic region for E. multilocularis. Another raccoon dog tes... Mehr ...

Verfasser: Maas, Miriam
van den End, Sanne
van Roon, Annika
Mulder, Jaap
Franssen, Frits
Dam-Deisz, Cecile
Montizaan, Margriet
van der Giessen, Joke
Dokumenttyp: Artikel
Erscheinungsdatum: 2016
Schlagwörter: Racoon dog / Echinococcus multilocularis / Trichinella spp / Wildlife / Zoonosis / Public health
Sprache: Englisch
Permalink: https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-27610739
Datenquelle: BASE; Originalkatalog
Powered By: BASE
Link(s) : https://dspace.library.uu.nl/handle/1874/352048

The recent invasion of the raccoon dog in the Netherlands may be associated with the risk of introduction and spread of zoonotic pathogens. The aim of this study was to assess whether Echinococcus multilocularis and Trichinella spp. infections are present in Dutch raccoon dogs. Between 2013 and 2014, nine raccoon dogs, mainly road kills, were collected for necropsies. One raccoon dog tested repeatedly positive in the qPCR for E. multilocularis. The positive raccoon dog was collected in the province of Flevoland, which is not a known endemic region for E. multilocularis. Another raccoon dog tested positive for Trichinella spiralis by the digestion of the forelimb musculature and the tongue. Trichinella spiralis has not been reported in wildlife since 1998 and thus far was not found in wild carnivores in the Netherlands. It shows that despite the small raccoon dog population that is present in the Netherlands and the limited number of raccoon dogs that were tested, the raccoon dog may play a role in the epidemiology of E. multilocularis and Trichinella spp. in the Netherlands.