Abstract
The raccoon (Procyon lotor) carnivore native to North America is a fast spreading, invasive species in the Europe now. At the moment, the highest population occupies areas near the German-Polish border. The data on the occurrence of Cryptosporidium spp. and microsporidia in raccoons is limited to North America’s territory and is totally lacking in the case of their introduction to Europe. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate the occurrence of microparasites, i.e., Cryptosporidium spp. and microsporidia in the introduced raccoons obtained from localities in Poland and Germany. A PCR-based approach that permitted genetic characterization via sequence analysis was applied to raccoon fecal samples (n = 49), collected during 2012–2014. All fecal samples were simultaneously tested with the use of genetic markers, and DNA of microsporidia and Cryptosporidium spp. was detected among the examined raccoons. The results of our research confirmed the presence of Cryptosporidium skunk genotype and Enterocytozoon bieneusi NCF2 genotype. The results suggest a possible role of raccoons in the contamination of the environment, including urban areas, with pathogens of zoonotic significance as well as their role in the transmission and introduction of new genotypes of microparasites in the areas where P. lotor has not been observed yet. To our knowledge, there has been no literature data on the above genotypes detected previously in humans or animals from the examined study sites so far.
Highlights
The raccoon is a North American carnivore which was introduced to Japan and Europe in the 20th century
We have molecularly identified the presence of E. bieneusi NCF2 genotype and Cryptosporidium skunk genotype in the Polish-German population of introduced raccoons
This has been the first report on these groups of parasites in raccoons colonizing Europe
Summary
The raccoon is a North American carnivore which was introduced to Japan and Europe in the 20th century. In Europe, as a result of escaped pets, releases, and escapes from fur farms, raccoons are distributed almost across the whole mainland (Beltrán-Beck et al 2012). A rapid expansion of this species has been observed in wild environment since the 1980s mainly on the German territory (Hohmann et al 2001; Stubbe 1999). The largest European stable population occurs in Germany (over one million individuals) (Hohmann et al 2000; Michler and Michler 2012), but smaller populations inhabit other European countries (Beltrán-Beck et al 2012; Schley et al 2001; Stubbe 1999). In the 1980s and the 1990s, a wild population was reported in Western Poland, and since that time, the abundance of the raccoons on the Polish territory has grown rapidly (Bartoszewicz et al 2008; Bartoszewicz and Okarma 2007; Biedrzycka et al 2014; Popiołek et al 2011)
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