Data on the parasitological status of golden jackal (Canis aureus L., 1758) in Hungary

Abstract

In Hungary, twenty Canis aureus individuals were submitted to parasitological examinations in 2010-2012. Two Coccidia: Cystoisospora canis (15%) and Toxoplasma-type oocysts (5%), one Trematoda: Alaria alata (10%), six Cestoda: Mesocestoides lineatus (20%), Echinococcus granulosus (10%), Dipylidium caninum (5%), Taenia hydatigena (15%), Taenia pisiformis (20%), Taenia crassiceps (40%), and nine Nematoda: Angiostrongylus vasorum (10%), Crenosoma vulpis (30%), Capillaria aerophila (5%), Toxocara canis (20%), Toxascaris leonina (15%), Trichuris vulpis (10%), Ancylostoma caninum (45%), Uncinaria stenocephala (40%), Capillaria plica (45%) have been identified. Angiostronglyus vasorum has been reported from carnivores in Europe, Africa, South America and North America. The helminth A. vasorum or French heartworm is a metastrongylid nematode, widely distributed in Western Europe, that infects the pulmonary arterial tree of dogs, various species of foxes, wolves, Eurasian badgers, coyotes and stoats. To our knowledge, this is the first report of natural A. vasorum infection in golden jackal.

Combined Serological Detection of Circulating Angiostrongylus vasorum Antigen and Parasite-specific Antibodies in Dogs from Hungary

“…Two asymptomatic dogs from south-western Hungary were diagnosed positive for A. vasorum based on positive faecal samples (Majoros et al 2010). These cases were followed more recently by further reports of A. vasorum in wild carnivores, for instance in 2 out of 10 golden jackals (Canis aureus) (Takács et al 2013). In a current analysis of the environmental factors having an impact on the distribution of lung worms in foxes based on the dissection of 937 animals, an average prevalence of 17.9 % was detected, with high variations from 0 -59.4 % between counties (Tolnai et al 2015).…”

“…Very recent case reports from eastern European countries describe the presence of the parasite in dogs from Poland (Demiaszkiewicz et al 2014) and Slovakia (Miterpakova et al 2014). In Hungary, which has common borders with Slovakia and Croatia, A. vasorum was first identified in 5 out of 100 red foxes shot in the western and southern counties of the country (Sréter et al 2003), in two golden jackals (Canis aureus) (Takács et al 2013) and also in two dogs and some slugs from close to the Croatian border diagnosed as being positive (Majoros et al 2010). The long-standing method for confirmation of clinical suspicion of dogs infected with A. vasorum, once the dogs are patent at approximately 40 -57 days post infection (Guilhon and Cens 1973;Schnyder et al 2010), is the detection of first stage larvae in faeces performed with the Baermann-Wetzel technique .…”

Serological survey for canine angiostrongylosis in Slovakia

“…In Poland, which neighbours Slovakia to the north, A. vasorum larvae were also confi rmed in wolves using Baermann's method (Szczęsna et al, 2007), and adult parasites were detected in the pericardium and pulmonary arteries of four foxes (Demiaszkiewicz et al, 2014). In Hungary, which borders Slovakia to the south, the presence of A. vasorum was confi rmed in a dog and in the intermediate host Arion lusitanicus (Portuguese slug) in 2010 (Majoros et al, 2010) and also in wild carnivores such as foxes (Sreter et al, 2003) and golden jackals (Takacs et al, 2014) and is meanwhile broadly spread, also in the neighboring areas (Tolnai et al, 2015). In the Czech Republic, to the north-west of Slovakia, the fi rst case of canine angiostrongylosis was reported in 2014 (Hajnalová et al, 2014).…”

Unusual cases of Taenia crassiceps cysticercosis in naturally infected animals in the Czech Republic

“…Not only dogs, but also foxes, wolves and jackals have been described as sources of T. crassiceps eggs in Europe (Takacs et al 2014;Gori et al 2015;Hauser et al 2015). Speculation regarding a significant contamination of the environment in Europe with T. crassiceps eggs can be supported by a rising number of cases described recently from various mammalian species (not only dogs or zoo animals), and from humans, who represent aberrant intermediate hosts.…”