Publication Type: | Journal Article |
Year of Publication: | 1992 |
Authors: | Ewald, D, Eckert, J, Gottstein, B, Straub, M, Nigg, H |
Journal: | OIE Revue Scientifique et Technique |
Volume: | 11 |
Pagination: | 1057-1061 |
Date Published: | 1992 |
Keywords: | Vulpes vulpes |
Abstract: | In the Canton of Zurich in Switzerland, 1,252 red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) were examined during 1990-1991 for intestinal stages of Echinococcus multilocularis using the mucosal smear technique. Special safety precautions were employed during examination. An average of 35% (432 foxes) were infected, mostly with low to medium numbers of gravid worms producing thick-shelled eggs. In the eleven districts of the Canton, prevalence rates varied between 13% and 57%. An average of 29% of the foxes had antibodies in serum or body fluid against a highly species-specific antigen of E. multilocularis (Em2-antigen). The fact that foxes with intestinal E. multilocularis infection have been found in all parts of the Canton of Zurich indicates a relatively high potential infection risk for humans, but apparently the risk is reduced by certain extrinsic or intrinsic factors which have yet to be determined. |
Parasitological and serological studies on the prevalence of Echinococcus multilocularis Leuckart, 1863 in red foxes (Vulpes vulpes Linnaeus, 1758) in Switzerland
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