Abstract

Aim:This survey was carried out on the carcasses of 29 coyotes from Southeastern Nebraska and Shenandoah area of Iowa to document the helminths present in the intestinal track of these carnivorous animals.Materials and Methods:A total of 29 adult coyote carcasses were generously donated in the autumn and winter (November-February) of 2014-2015 by trappers, fur buyers and hunters of Southeast Nebraska and Shenandoah area of Iowa. The intestine of individual animals were examined for the recovery of helminth parasites as per the established procedures.Results:We found that as many as 93.10% of the investigated coyotes were infected with one or more helminth infections. A total of 10 different species of helminth parasites were recovered from the intestines of coyotes under investigation. Among the 10 species of helminths, 5 were identified as cestodes while the remaining 5 were nematodes. A total of 82.75% of the animals were infected with one or more species of nematodes, while 75.86% of them were colonized with one or more species of cestode parasites. The most abundant species in coyotes were Toxascaris leonina (68.95%) closely followed by Taenia hydatigena (58.62%). The prevalence of Ancylostoma caninum and Taenia pisiformis were recorded at 31.03%, followed by those of Toxocara canis and Echinococcus spp. at 24.13%, respectively. Three animals were infected with Trichuris vulpis while three other coyotes each were found to be harboring Uncinaria stenocephala, Dipylidium caninum, or Hymenolepis diminuta. The presence of H. diminuta might have been the result of the ingestion of a rodent by the respective coyotes.Conclusion:From the overall analysis of the present data and comparing it with the previous reports of various scientists over several decades, we can conclude that intestinal helminths are still very much prevalent among the coyote population in the Southeast Nebraska and Iowa area. The relatively high prevalence of the zoonotic parasite species further warrants a more comprehensive investigation with larger numbers of wild predators from the region to ascertain the possible contribution of coyotes to the disease cycle as these animals are more frequently spotted in and around the densely populated urban areas.

Highlights

  • As more and more coyotes have been spotted in and around the major urban areas of the United States, in the Midwest region of our country, they are bound to have close contact with human populations, thereby impacting public health by increasing the chances of transmitting some zoonotic parasites to man

  • As many as 175 Taenia hydatigena were recovered from coyote number 3 making it the most heavily infected animal with this cestode parasite in the current study

  • Coyote number 1 had 58 Toxascaris leonina, making it the highest number of nematode species recovered from an individual animal under investigation

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Summary

Introduction

As more and more coyotes have been spotted in and around the major urban areas of the United States, in the Midwest region of our country, they are bound to have close contact with human populations, thereby impacting public health by increasing the chances of transmitting some zoonotic parasites to man. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated

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