Introduction: Intestinal microeukaryote parasites are major contributors to the burden of diarrhoea in humans and domestic animals, but their epidemiology in wildlife is not fully understood. We investigated the frequency, genetic diversity and zoonotic potential of protists of animal and public health significance in free-ranging grey wolf (Canis lupus) populations in south-western Europe.
Methods: Individually formed faecal samples collected from necropsied wolves or scat trails in Italy (n = 47), Portugal (n = 43) and Spain (n = 225) during the period 2011-2023 were retrospectively analysed using molecular (PCR and Sanger sequencing) methods.
Vet Parasitol Reg Stud Reports
November 2024
The protozoan Sarcocystis neurona can cause severe disease in horses, marine mammals, and several other animal species in North America. The Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana) is its definitive host, and the raccoon (Procyon lotor) has been considered its primary intermediate host in the USA. Although canids have not previously been identified as important intermediate hosts for this parasite, we here report several natural cases in the gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus).
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