High infection rate of zoonoticEucoleus aerophilusinfection in foxes from Serbia

Vesna Lalošević,Ivan Čapo,Donato Traversa,Dušan Lalošević,Verica Simin,Annamaria Galfi

doi:10.1051/parasite/2012003

Vesna Lalošević, Ivan Čapo + Show 4 more

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https://doi.org/10.1051/parasite/2012003

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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.

Highlights

Nematodes of the family Capillariidae Neveu-Lemaire, 1936 are a very large group with not yet completely accepted taxonomy [16, 32]
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
Out of 70 examined foxes, 32% harboured more than 14 adult worms of E. aerophilus with no relevant difference in parasitic burden between foxes collected from different mountainous regions or the Pannonian basin

Summary

Introduction

Nematodes of the family Capillariidae Neveu-Lemaire, 1936 are a very large group with not yet completely accepted taxonomy [16, 32]. Among species ranked in this family, Eucoleus aerophilus (Creplin, 1839) Dujardin, 1845 Several morphological descriptions have been provided for different biological stages of. E. aerophilus [3, 5, 18, 23, 32], several other aspects of this nematode are still poorly known. This is the case of geographic distribution, clinical significance and actual zoonotic potential [31]. Knowledge on the biological cycle of this nematode is scanty and, for instance, the route of transmission to vertebrate hosts remains to be understood. In general it is thought that animals become infected by ingesting environmental larvated eggs [31] but it has been hypothesized, but never demonstrated, that larval E. aerophilus might require the passage through earthworms to become infective for cats and foxes (Borovkova, 1947 cited in [18])

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