Short Note: Observations from Video Footage of Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes) Activity Within a Grey Seal (Halichoerus grypus) Breeding Colony on the UK Mainland

Culloch, Ross M.; Pomeroy, Patrick P.; Lidstone-Scott, Rob; Bourne, Linda; Twiss, Sean D.

doi:10.1578/am.38.1.2012.81

Cited by 6 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…van Neer, pers. comm., 25 March 2015) as well as scavenging on seal placentae and dead or moribund seal pups at mainland seal breeding colonies (Culloch et al, 2012).…”

Section: Shape the Most Prominent Pathological Featuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Suspected Scavenging Event by Red Foxes (Vulpes vulpes) on a Live, Stranded Harbour Porpoise (Phocoena phocoena)

Haelters¹,

Everaarts²,

Bunskoek³

et al. 2016

Aquat Mamm

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“…van Neer, pers. comm., 25 March 2015) as well as scavenging on seal placentae and dead or moribund seal pups at mainland seal breeding colonies (Culloch et al, 2012).…”

Section: Shape the Most Prominent Pathological Featuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Suspected Scavenging Event by Red Foxes (Vulpes vulpes) on a Live, Stranded Harbour Porpoise (Phocoena phocoena)

Haelters¹,

Everaarts²,

Bunskoek³

et al. 2016

Aquat Mamm

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“…In this context, it would also be interesting to investigate if red foxes -hosts of A. phagocytophilum -living in the Dutch coastal dune area occasionally feed on dead seal pups and get infested by E. horridus as had been reported for Arctic foxes from Alaska and the fur seal louse (Antarctophthirus callorhini) [1]. Thereby, red fox activity was observed in UK within a mainland grey seal breeding colony [41] and satellite tracking showed that tagged grey seals in the Netherlands leave to breed in the UK [42].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

The seal louse (Echinophthirius horridus) in the Dutch Wadden Sea: investigation of vector-borne pathogens 

Hirzmann

Ebmer

Contreras³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Background: Belonging to the anopluran family Echinophthiriidae, Echinophthirius horridus, the seal louse, has been reported to parasitize a broad range of representatives of phocid seals. So far, only few studies focused on vector function of echinophthiriid lice and knowledge on their role in pathogen transmission is still scarce. The current study aims to investigate the possible vector role of E. horridus parasitizing seals in the Dutch Wadden Sea.Methods: More than 1200 E. horridus seal lice were collected from 54 harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) and one grey seal (Halichoerus grypus) during their rehabilitation period in the Sealcentre Pieterburen, the Netherlands. DNA was extracted from pooled seal lice of individual seals for molecular detection of the seal heartworm Acanthocheilonema spirocauda, the rickettsial intracellular bacterium Anaplasma phagocytophilum, and Mycoplasma spp. using PCR assays.Results: Seal lice from 35% of the harbour seals (19/54) and from the grey seal proved positive for A. spirocauda. The seal heartworm was molecularly characterised and phylogenetically analysed for the first time (rDNA, cox1). A nested PCR was developed for the cox1 gene to detect A. spirocauda stages in seal lice. A. phagocytophilum and a Mycoplasma species previously identified from a patient with disseminated ‘seal finger’ mycoplasmosis were detected the first time in seal lice. Conclusions: Our findings support the potential vector role of seal lice in transmission of A. spirocauda, and reveal new insights into the spectrum of pathogens occurring in seal lice. As these pathogens might have detrimental effects on the health of seal populations further epidemiological investigations on infections due to these pathogens in seals should be conducted.

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“…In this context, it would also be interesting to investigate whether red foxes (Vulpes vulpes)-frequent hosts of A. phagocytophilum-living in the Dutch coastal dune area might occasionally feed on dead seal pups and get infested by E. horridus as has been reported for Arctic foxes (Vulpes lagopus) from Alaska and the fur seal louse (Antarctophthirus callorhini) [1]. In this context, it is worth noting that red fox activity was observed in the UK within a mainland grey seal breeding colony [45] and that satellite tracking studies have shown that grey seals captured in The Netherlands may migrate to breed in the UK [46].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…horridus as has been reported for Arctic foxes ( Vulpes lagopus ) from Alaska and the fur seal louse ( Antarctophthirus callorhini ) [ 1 ]. In this context, it is worth noting that red fox activity was observed in the UK within a mainland grey seal breeding colony [ 45 ] and that satellite tracking studies have shown that grey seals captured in The Netherlands may migrate to breed in the UK [ 46 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The seal louse (Echinophthirius horridus) in the Dutch Wadden Sea: investigation of vector-borne pathogens

et al. 2021

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Background Belonging to the anopluran family Echinophthiriidae, Echinophthirius horridus, the seal louse, has been reported to parasitise a broad range of representatives of phocid seals. So far, only a few studies have focused on the vector function of echinophthiriid lice, and knowledge about their role in pathogen transmission is still scarce. The current study aims to investigate the possible vector role of E. horridus parasitising seals in the Dutch Wadden Sea. Methods E. horridus seal lice were collected from 54 harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) and one grey seal (Halichoerus grypus) during their rehabilitation period at the Sealcentre Pieterburen, The Netherlands. DNA was extracted from pooled seal lice of individual seals for molecular detection of the seal heartworm Acanthocheilonema spirocauda, the rickettsial intracellular bacterium Anaplasma phagocytophilum, and the cell wall-less bacteria Mycoplasma spp. using PCR assays. Results Seal lice from 35% of the harbour seals (19/54) and from the grey seal proved positive for A. spirocauda. The seal heartworm was molecularly characterised and phylogenetically analysed (rDNA, cox1). A nested PCR was developed for the cox1 gene to detect A. spirocauda stages in seal lice. A. phagocytophilum and a Mycoplasma species previously identified from a patient with disseminated ‘seal finger’ mycoplasmosis were detected for the first time, to our knowledge, in seal lice. Conclusions Our findings support the potential vector role of seal lice in the transmission of A. spirocauda and reveal new insights into the spectrum of pathogens occurring in seal lice. Studies on vector competence of E. horridus, especially for bacterial pathogens, are essentially needed in the future as these pathogens might have detrimental effects on the health of seal populations. Furthermore, studies on the vector role of different echinophthiriid species infecting a wide range of pinniped hosts should be conducted to extend the knowledge of vector-borne pathogens.

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Short Note: Observations from Video Footage of Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes) Activity Within a Grey Seal (Halichoerus grypus) Breeding Colony on the UK Mainland

Cited by 6 publications

References 23 publications

A Suspected Scavenging Event by Red Foxes (Vulpes vulpes) on a Live, Stranded Harbour Porpoise (Phocoena phocoena)

A Suspected Scavenging Event by Red Foxes (Vulpes vulpes) on a Live, Stranded Harbour Porpoise (Phocoena phocoena)

The seal louse (Echinophthirius horridus) in the Dutch Wadden Sea: investigation of vector-borne pathogens

The seal louse (Echinophthirius horridus) in the Dutch Wadden Sea: investigation of vector-borne pathogens

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Short Note: Observations from Video Footage of Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes) Activity Within a Grey Seal (Halichoerus grypus) Breeding Colony on the UK Mainland

Cited by 6 publications

References 23 publications

A Suspected Scavenging Event by Red Foxes (Vulpes vulpes) on a Live, Stranded Harbour Porpoise (Phocoena phocoena)

A Suspected Scavenging Event by Red Foxes (Vulpes vulpes) on a Live, Stranded Harbour Porpoise (Phocoena phocoena)

The seal louse (Echinophthirius horridus) in the Dutch Wadden Sea: investigation of vector-borne pathogens&nbsp;

The seal louse (Echinophthirius horridus) in the Dutch Wadden Sea: investigation of vector-borne pathogens

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The seal louse (Echinophthirius horridus) in the Dutch Wadden Sea: investigation of vector-borne pathogens