AUTHOR=Máca Ondřej , Gudiškis Naglis , Butkauskas Dalius , González-Solís David , Prakas Petras 

TITLE=Red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) and raccoon dogs (Nyctereutes procyonoides) as potential spreaders of Sarcocystis species

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Veterinary Science

VOLUME=11

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/veterinary-science/articles/10.3389/fvets.2024.1392618

DOI=10.3389/fvets.2024.1392618

ISSN=2297-1769

ABSTRACT=<sec id="sec1"><title>Background</title><p><italic>Sarcocystis</italic> includes a global group of apicomplexan parasites with two-host life cycle frequently circulating in wildlife and domestic hosts, including humans. Two of the most important wild terrestrial carnivores acting as definitive hosts are the red fox and raccoon dog, due to their wide distribution in Europe and usage of wild and farmed animals as prey. This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of <italic>Sarcocystis</italic> in hunted red foxes and raccoon dogs from nine regions of the Czech Republic and to identify isolated sporocysts by molecular techniques.</p></sec><sec id="sec2"><title>Methods</title><p>Approximately 5 g of the contents of large intestine from 200 animals (197 red foxes and three raccoon dogs) were examined by flotation centrifugation coprological method. Only samples of 50 red foxes and one raccoon dog positive to <italic>Sarcocystis</italic> spp. were used for the nested PCR (nPCR) method to amplify a fragment or partial sequence on the <italic>cox1</italic> gene. Ten species-specific primer pairs for detection of <italic>Sarcocystis</italic> spp. using farm animals as intermediate hosts were utilized.</p></sec><sec id="sec3"><title>Results</title><p>In total, 38.1% of the red foxes and 66.7% of the raccoon dogs were positive to <italic>Sarcocystis</italic> by light microscopy. The molecular characterization resulted in the identification of five species in the red fox: <italic>S</italic>. <italic>arieticanis</italic>, <italic>S</italic>. <italic>capracanis</italic>, <italic>S. cruzi</italic>, <italic>S</italic>. <italic>miescheriana</italic>, and <italic>S. tenella</italic>, while the PCR was negative for the sole raccoon dog. The highest intraspecific variation was found for <italic>S</italic>. <italic>miescheriana</italic>, while <italic>S. tenella</italic> was the most prevalent. Co-infections occurred in the large intestine of the red fox. No zoonotic species were found in our samples.</p></sec><sec id="sec4"><title>Conclusion</title><p>This is the first study where the potential role of the red fox and raccoon dogs as spreaders of <italic>Sarcocystis</italic> to farm animals in the Czech Republic is shown. The use of species-specific primers provides a fast and easy method for screening multiple samples for a particular <italic>Sarcocystis</italic> species.</p></sec>