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. 2014 Dec 12;4(1):88-96.
doi: 10.1016/j.ijppaw.2014.12.001. eCollection 2015 Apr.

Wildlife reservoirs for vector-borne canine, feline and zoonotic infections in Austria

Georg G Duscher  1 , Michael Leschnik  2 , Hans-Peter Fuehrer  1 , Anja Joachim  1
Affiliations

Wildlife reservoirs for vector-borne canine, feline and zoonotic infections in Austria

Georg G Duscher et al. Int J Parasitol Parasites Wildl. .

Abstract

Austria's mammalian wildlife comprises a large variety of species, acting and interacting in different ways as reservoir and intermediate and definitive hosts for different pathogens that can be transmitted to pets and/or humans. Foxes and other wild canids are responsible for maintaining zoonotic agents, e.g. Echinococcus multilocularis, as well as pet-relevant pathogens, e.g. Hepatozoon canis. Together with the canids, and less commonly felids, rodents play a major role as intermediate and paratenic hosts. They carry viruses such as tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV), bacteria including Borrelia spp., protozoa such as Toxoplasma gondii, and helminths such as Toxocara canis. The role of wild ungulates, especially ruminants, as reservoirs for zoonotic disease on the other hand seems to be negligible, although the deer filaroid Onchocerca jakutensis has been described to infect humans. Deer may also harbour certain Anaplasma phagocytophilum strains with so far unclear potential to infect humans. The major role of deer as reservoirs is for ticks, mainly adults, thus maintaining the life cycle of these vectors and their distribution. Wild boar seem to be an exception among the ungulates as, in their interaction with the fox, they can introduce food-borne zoonotic agents such as Trichinella britovi and Alaria alata into the human food chain.

Keywords: Echinococcus multilocularis; Red fox; Rodents; Tick-borne encephalitis; Trichinella britovi; Wild ungulates; Wildlife; Zoonoses.

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Figures

None
Graphical abstract
Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Role of wildlife (in black: red fox, wild boar, racoon dog, racoon, hedgehog, roe deer, and rodents; in white: golden jackal) in the transmission of various pathogens to cats, dogs and humans (in grey) directly or via arthropod vectors (in red: ticks, mosquitoes). A. alata: Alaria alata A. phagocytophilum: Anaplasma phagocytophilum B. procyonis: Baylisascaris procyonis C. hepaticum: Calodium hepaticum D. repens: Dirofilaria repens E. multilocularis: Echinococcus multilocularis H. canis: Hepatozoon canis N. mikurensis: Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis O. jakutensis: Onchocerca jakutensis T. britovi: Trichinella britovi T. canis: Toxocara canis T. cati: Toxocara cati T. gondii: Toxoplasma gondii TBEV: tick-borne encephalitis virus
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