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. 2022 Mar 30;12(7):879.
doi: 10.3390/ani12070879.

Prevalence of Fox Tapeworm in Invasive Muskrats in Flanders (North Belgium)

Emma Cartuyvels  1 , Tim Adriaens  1 , Kristof Baert  1 , Frank Huysentruyt  1 , Koen Van Den Berge  1
Affiliations

Prevalence of Fox Tapeworm in Invasive Muskrats in Flanders (North Belgium)

Emma Cartuyvels et al. Animals (Basel). .

Abstract

One way in which invasive alien species affect their environment is by acting as pathogen hosts. Pathogens limited by the availability of the native host species can profit from the presence of additional hosts. The muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus) is known to act as an intermediate host for the fox tapeworm (Echinococcus multilocularis). From 2009 to 2017, 15,402 muskrats caught in Flanders and across the border with Wallonia and France were collected and dissected with the aim of understanding the prevalence of this parasite in muskrats. Visual examination of the livers revealed 202 infected animals (1.31%). Out of the 9421 animals caught in Flanders, we found 82 individuals (0.87%) infected with E. multilocularis. No increase in prevalence was observed during this study. All of the infected animals in Flanders were found in municipalities along the Walloon border. We did not observe a northward spread of E. multilocularis infection from Wallonia to Flanders. We hypothesise that the low prevalence is the result of the reduced availability of intermediate hosts and the successful control programme which is keeping muskrat densities in the centre of the region at low levels and is preventing influx from other areas. Our results illustrate that muskrats are good sentinels for E. multilocularis and regular screening can gain valuable insight into the spread of this zoonosis.

Keywords: Echinococcus multilocularis; fox tapeworm; invasive alien species; muskrat; zoonosis.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Number of muskrats trapped by the Flanders Environment Agency between 2009 and 2017. The regional border between Flanders and Wallonia is indicated by a green dashed line.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Percentage of infected muskrats out of all animals dissected between 2009 and 2017. Additional observations from Wallonia (regional border indicated by green dashed line) are also included.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The percentage of EM infected muskrats in Flanders per year. The dashed line indicates an average infection rate of 0.9%.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Percentage of muskrats with positive (blue) and inconclusive (green) EM presence by sex.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Percentage of muskrats with positive (blue) and inconclusive (green) EM presence by weight class (g).
Figure 6
Figure 6
Percentage of muskrats with positive (blue) and inconclusive (green) EM presence by month.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Distribution of the body weight of the dissected muskrats per month.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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