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Red fox (Vulpes vulpes) cannibalistic behaviour and the prevalence of Trichinella britovi in NW Italian Alps

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Abstract

Food habits of the red fox (Vulpes vulpes) were studied in the Aosta Valley region (NW Italian Alps) and were related to the prevalence of Trichinella infection in the red fox itself and in two Mustelid species (the stone marten (Martes foina) and the badger (Meles meles)). The search of Trichinella by the automatic digestion of muscles samples led us to determine a prevalence of 3.5±1.2% in red foxes, 7.9±4.3% in stone martens and 1.9±1.8% in badgers, with no significant differences among the species. All larvae were identified as Trichinella britovi. The fox diet was assessed through the analysis of both faeces (n=180) and the stomach contents of road-killed animals (n=109). Our results confirmed the opportunistic feeding behaviour of the red fox, which is able to use various trophic resources, both of animal and vegetal origin: e.g. wild and cultivated fruits (F%=47.1; V%=67.3), rodents (F%=22.8; V%=64.8) and carrion (F%=15.6; V%=78.6) formed the bulk of the fox’s diet. The frequency of occurrence of potential events of cannibalism was 1.0%, even if the complete absence of undigested remains, other than hairs, suggested the possibility of confusing cannibalism with coat-cleaning. We suggest that intra-specific necrophagy could not represent the unique way of transmission of the nematode in natural conditions.

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Acknowledgements

We wish to thank Edoardo Pozio of the International Reference Centre for Trichinellosis (Rome, Italy) for the identification of Trichinella larvae at the species level and for the revision of the manuscript. We sincerely thank William C. Campbell for his basic help and encouragement, and A.S. Bessonov for kind cooperation. Performed experiments comply with current Italian laws.

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  1. Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale Piemonte Liguria, Valle d’Aosta, Aosta Unit, Ce.R.M.A.S. National Reference Centre for Wild Animal Diseases, Via Guido Rey, 5, 11100, Aosta, Italy

    Luigi Remonti, Alessandro Balestrieri, Lorenzo Domenis, Cristina Banchi, Tatiana Lo Valvo, Serena Robetto & Riccardo Orusa

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  1. Luigi Remonti
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  2. Alessandro Balestrieri
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  3. Lorenzo Domenis
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  7. Riccardo Orusa
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Correspondence to Riccardo Orusa.

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Remonti, L., Balestrieri, A., Domenis, L. et al. Red fox (Vulpes vulpes) cannibalistic behaviour and the prevalence of Trichinella britovi in NW Italian Alps. Parasitol Res 97, 431–435 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-005-1481-9

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