Parasitic helminths from feral raccoons (Procyon lotor) in Japan

Abstract

An epidemiological survey of 1688 free-ranging raccoons (Procyon lotor) captured on the Japanese main islands of Hokkaido, Honshu and Kyushu was undertaken to determine whether Baylisascaris procyonis, which provokes fatal neurological larva migrans was present; however, the worm was not detected in any of these individuals. A helminthological investigation was carried out on 229 of the captured raccoons and the following worms obtained: Toxocara tanuki, Porrocaecum sp., Molineus legerae, Ancylostoma kushimaense, Aonchotheca putorii, Centrorhynchus sp., Centrorhynchus bazaleticus, C. elongatum, Plagiorhynchidae gen sp., Hemiechinosoma sp., Metagonimus takahashii, M. miyatai, Euparyphium sp., Plagiorchis muris, Brachylaima sp., and Taenia hydatigena. These were the first records of Porrocaecum sp., M. miyatai, Brachylaima sp. and T. hydatigena obtained from Japanese feral raccoons. Scanning electron microscopic and/or molecular analyses were performed for both T. tanuki and T. hydatigena as these helminths both have a zoonotic counterpart amongst their families.

Raccoons in Europe: disease hazards due to the establishment of an invasive species

“…Prevalence is also high among introduced raccoons in Germany (Gey 1998;Winter 2005). In contrast, in an epidemiological survey of 1,688 freeranging raccoons captured in Japan, the worm was not detected (Matoba et al 2006). B. procyonis is considered the most common and widespread cause of clinical larva migrans (LM) in animals, in which it is usually associated with fatal or severe neurological disease (Gavin et al 2005;Kazacos and Boyce 1989;Page et al 1999).…”

The present situation of echinococcoses in Mongolia

“…However, additional molecular testing of adult worms from both red and corsac foxes is needed to confirm or reject this hypothesis. This is especially true since worm abundance may be smaller in corsac foxes as compared to red foxes, and currently available tools (Matoba et al , 2006) may not be sensitive enough to detect very small worm burdens (Ito et al , 2013b). Additional wild canid studies need to be conducted to determine which animals are currently acting as definitive hosts for E. multilocularis in Mongolia.…”

Echinococcus species from red foxes, corsac foxes, and wolves in Mongolia

“…The remaining contents were kept in 50 ml screw cap tubes. Echinococcus specimens were confirmed by microscopic examination (Matoba et al 2006).…”