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Infection pressure of human alveolar echinococcosis due to village and small town foxes (Vuples vulpes) living in close proximity to residents

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Abstract

This study investigated the epidemiological and ecological factors to assess the infection pressure of alveolar echinococcosis to human which are living in villages and small towns. Foxes and fox faeces were examined for Echinococcus multilocularis and foxes were observed by radio telemetry in Upper Bavaria, Germany. Forty-three percent of the village foxes (n = 65) had been infected with E. multilocularis. This prevalence rate did not differ significantly from the prevalence among rural foxes, which was 39% (n = 33; χ 2 = 0.12, df = 1, p = 0.727) determined by the intestinal scraping technique. PCR analyses of fox faeces showed a higher infection rate of 35% (n = 26) among rural foxes than among foxes in villages and small towns (26%, n = 69; χ 2 = 0.68, df = 1, p = 0.411). One quarter of the fox faecal samples come from private gardens of residents. The radio-tracking study on 17 foxes showed that foxes preferred the built-up area and grassland outside the villages. Village foxes concentrated their activity within a range of 500 m around the settlement. Sixty-four percent of all bearings for radio-tracked foxes showed positions in areas outside the town, and 36% of bearings were within the settlement. Village foxes, which are infected with E. multilocularis, are able to carry the parasite continuously into settlements and fox faeces present an immediate source of infection to humans, especially within their gardens. Therefore, foxes are responsible for environmental E. multilocularis egg contamination in the vicinity of humans, leading to an infection risk to inhabitants of villages and small towns.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the Konrad Adenauer Foundation for supporting this work with a scholarship. We would also like to extend our thanks to the participating municipalities of Andechs, Herrsching am Ammersee, Oberammergau and Seefeld for financing this study as part of the Fox Tapeworm Project.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Animal Ecology, Wildlife Biology and Management Unit, Technische Universität München, Hans Carl von Carlowitz Platz 2, 85354, Freising-Weihenstephan, Germany

    Christof Janko, Stefan Linke, Wolfgang Schröder & Andreas König

  2. Institute of Zoology, Department of Parasitology, University of Hohenheim, Emil-Wolff Str. 34, 70599, Stuttgart, Germany

    Thomas Romig & Dorothea Thoma

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  1. Christof Janko
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  2. Stefan Linke
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  3. Thomas Romig
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  4. Dorothea Thoma
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  5. Wolfgang Schröder
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  6. Andreas König
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Correspondence to Christof Janko.

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Communicated by C. Gortázar

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Janko, C., Linke, S., Romig, T. et al. Infection pressure of human alveolar echinococcosis due to village and small town foxes (Vuples vulpes) living in close proximity to residents. Eur J Wildl Res 57, 1033–1042 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-011-0515-0

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