Factors affecting the spread of parasites in populations of wild European terrestrial mammals

Abstract

There are many different factors involved in parasitism. The general concept of Bfilters^proposed by Combes includes Bencounter filters^(behavior, biodiversity) and Bcompatibility filters^(resources, defense) to explain mechanisms responsible for the formation of host-parasite coexistence. However, researches explaining the reasons for the spread and dynamics of parasites in populations of wild terrestrial mammals in Europe and the specific factors affecting prevalence and intensity of parasitosis are limited. Many factors, ecological, biological, and anthropogenic, form a complex network of interdependencies that shape this pattern. Here, I summarize the current state of knowledge on the factors affecting parasitic diseases in wild mammals inhabiting the European continent. It indicates the need to further development, not only for academic reasons, but also for the benefit of use in management of wild mammal species and disease control in nature.

The Nematodes Thelazia gulosa Railiet and Henry, 1910 and Thelazia skrjabini Erschov, 1928 as a Cause of Blindness in European Bison (Bison bonasus) in Poland

“…Unfortunately, there is no recent data about the prevalence of thelasiosis in domestic ruminants in Poland; however, it should not be excluded that infected cattle may be one of the possible sources of this parasitosis for European bison. Moreover, it cannot be ruled out that climate change may have an impact on increasing parasite transmission and infectivity [ 28 ]. Flies, intermediate hosts for Thelazia transmission, are probably present in greater numbers and for longer durations during the year when mean annual temperatures are higher and winters are milder.…”

First identification and molecular phylogeny of Sparganum proliferum from endangered felid (Panthera onca) and other wild definitive hosts in one of the regions with highest worldwide biodiversity

“…The PCR-product obtained was sequenced and firstly aligned with ClustalX (v2.0.12) with Spirometra and Sparganum sequences extracted from complete mitochondrial genomes available on GenBank and considered as reference genomes ( International Helminth Genomes Consortium, 2019 ). To get insight into an accurate phylogenetic analysis of our parasite linage we downloaded cox1 sequences form Asia, Africa, Europe and South America totalling 275 cox1 sequences ( Lavikainen et al, 2013 ; Zhang et al, 2017 , 2020 ; Jeon and Eom, 2019 ; Kołodziej-Sobocińska et al, 2019 ; Hong et al, 2020 ). After several sequence redundancy removal 42 cox1 sequences were retained.…”

“…in human infections in South Sudan and Ethiopia ( Eberhard, 2015 ). In Europe, there are also molecular records of S. erinaceieuropaei plerocercoid larvae in wild fauna from Poland ( Kołodziej-Sobocińska et al, 2019 ). In Brazil, there have been reports of Spirometra spp.…”

Changes in land use affect anuran helminths in the South Brazilian grasslands

“…The loss of habitat also influences the dynamics and composition of the anuran helminth communities. The structure of the helminth community depends on many factors, including host and helminth life histories (coevolution) (Janovy et al, 1992;Brooks et al, 2006;Brunner & Eizaguirre, 2016;Kołodziej-Sobocińska, 2019), diet and habitat (McAlpine & Burt, 1998;Poulin, 1998;Bolek & Coggins, 2003;Zelmer & Arai, 2004;Pinheiro et al, 2019). It is known that helminth infections cause several negative effects on the development and fitness of anurans.…”