Alien species and their zoonotic parasites in native and introduced ranges: The raccoon dog example

Abstract

The raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides) is a canid that is indigenous in East Asia and alien in Europe, where it was introduced more than half a century ago. The aim of this study was to compare the parasite faunas associated with raccoon dogs in their native and introduced ranges, and to identify zoonotic parasite species. We examined 255 carcasses of hunted raccoon dogs from Estonia and recorded a total of 17 helminth species: 4 trematodes, 4 cestodes and 9 nematodes. The most prevalent parasite species were Uncinaria stenocephala (97.6%) and Alaria alata (68.3%). Average parasite species richness was 2.86 (the highest was 9) and only two animals were not parasitized at all. Although the infection intensity was determined by weight and not by sex, all animals infected with more than five helminth species were males. We also found that animals infected with higher numbers of helminth species fed significantly more on natural plants. Intentional consumption of grass may represent a self-medicating behaviour among raccoon dogs. We included the Estonian data into a wider comparison of raccoon dog parasite faunas and found a total of 54 helminth taxa, including 28 of zoonotic potential. In Europe, raccoon dogs are infected with a minimum of 32 helminth species of which 19 are zoonotic; in the native range they are infected with 26 species of which 17 are zoonotic. Most species were nematodes or trematodes, with fewer cestodes described. The recent increase in the number and range of raccoon dogs in Europe and the relatively high number of zoonotic parasite taxa that it harbours suggests that this species should be considered an important source of environmental contamination with zoonotic agents in Europe.