Prevalence of Capillaria plica in Danish wild carnivores.

Heidi H. Petersen,Gitte Larsen,Mariann Chriél,Elisabeth Holm,Stine T. Nielsen

doi:10.1016/j.ijppaw.2018.09.006

Heidi H. Petersen, Gitte Larsen + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijppaw.2018.09.006

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Abstract

Capillaria plica is a parasitic nematode belonging to the family Capillariidae. The adult parasites reside in the urinary tract of wild and domestic canines. The infection is most often asymptomatic, but can cause a wide range of symptoms including urinary bladder inflammation, pollacisuria, dysuria and hematuria. Canines acquire the infection by ingesting the intermediate host, the earthworm (Lumbricidae). Epidemiological studies on C. plica infection in wildlife are few and only one previous Danish study examined the prevalence in red foxes, while studies on prevalence in other animals are limited. We examined the urine sediment or urinary bladder from 375 Raccoon dogs (Nyctereutes procyonoides), 247 red foxes (Vulpes vulpes), 20 beech martens (Martes foina), 16 wild mink (Neovison vison), 14 otters (Lutra lutra), nine European polecats (Mustela putorius), three European badgers (Meles meles) and one golden jackal (Canis aureus) received as a part of Danish wildlife surveillance. Capillaria plica was detected in 73.7% of red foxes, 20.0% of beech martens, 0.5% of raccoon dogs, and in the Golden jackal. Red foxes originating from all 5 regions of Denmark were infected, although with a significantly higher prevalence in the three regions in Jutland compared to Region Zealand.

Highlights

The purpose of this study was to carry out a nation-wide crosssectional study of C. plica prevalence in Danish wild carnivores, to determine their role as reservoir host for infection in Danish dogs
The urinary bladder was obtained from 375 raccoon dogs (Nyctereutes procyonoides), 247 red foxes (Vulpes vulpes), 20 beech martens (Martes foina), 16 mink (Neovison vison), 14 otters (Lutra lutra), nine European polecats (Mustela putorius), three European badgers (Meles meles) and one golden jackal (Canis aureus)
Capillaria plica eggs were isolated from red foxes, raccoon dogs, beech martens and the golden jackal

Summary

Introduction

Pearsonoma plica) is a threadlike nematode belonging to Capillariidae family (Butterworth and Beverley-Burton, 1980). The life-cycle is indirect, involving wild and domestic canines as final host, and earthworms (Lumbricidae) as intermediate host. The final host become infected when ingesting earthworms containing first-stage larvae (L1). The L1 develop to thirdstage larvae (L3) in the small intestine, migrate to the urinary bladder and moult to adult worms within two months. Adults are 13–60 mm long and embedded in the bladder mucosa. Adults reside in urethra and renal pelvis. The female worm lays 55–67 × 26–29 μm barrel-shaped eggs with buttons on both poles (Fig. 1). The eggs are spread to the environment with urine

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