A. Casulli et al., High prevalence of Trichinella nativa infection in wolf (Canis lupus) populations of Tvier and Smoliensk regions of European Russia, PARASITE, 8(2), 2001, pp. S88-S89
Citations number
9
Categorie Soggetti
Biology
Journal title
PARASITE-JOURNAL DE LA SOCIETE FRANCAISE DE PARASITOLOGIE
Domestic and sylvatic trichinellosis have frequently been documented in Eur
opean regions of Russia, with the highest prevalence reported in wolves (Ca
nis lupus). From 1998 to 2000, 75 carcasses of wolves shot by hunters were
tested for Trichinella larvae, and 73 (97.3%) of them were found to be posi
tive. This very high prevalence of infection, the highest ever detected in
a natural population of carnivores, could be explained by the human impact
on the natural ecosystem. In fact, the diet of wolves living in the region
under study mainly consists of carcasses of dogs and wolves, which are left
in the forest or used as bait by hunters.