Geographical distribution and risk factors for Echinococcus granulosus infection in peri-urban wild dog populations

Publication date: December 2019Source: International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife, Volume 10Author(s): Lana Harriott, Matthew Gentle, Rebecca Traub, Rowland Cobbold, Ricardo Soares MagalhãesAbstractThe transmission of zoonotic pathogens associated with wildlife in peri-urban environments can be influenced by the interplay of numerous socioecological factors. Echinococcus granulosus is known to be common within peri-urban wild dog populations however knowledge of the factors that influence its presence is limited. We investigated the demographic distribution of adult cestode abundance (ACA: defined as the product between prevalence of infection and adult cestode infection intensity) and the role of the physical environment, climate and individual factors in determining the geographical variation of E. granulosus infection in wild dog populations from southeast Queensland and surrounds. Our results align with previous studies that show significant E. granulosus aggregation in that 15.8% of peri-urban wild dogs sampled were responsible for ∼70% of the total adult cestode infection intensity. On average, female dogs were found to have a higher ACA than male dogs, and the average ACA generally decreased with age. Significant geographical variation was found in the prevalence of E. granulosus, with a strong propensity for clustering. The average size of clusters was 22.5 km. The probability of finding E. granulosus infection significantly increased with...
Source: International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife - Category: Parasitology Source Type: research