Why is our roe deer short of breath? – Prevalence and promotive factors of lung parasites in roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) in southeast Germany

The existence of bronchopulmonary nematodes in German roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) is well documented, with two types of lung parasites that have been described previously (Dictyocaulus capreolus and Varestrongylus capreoli). However, little is known about the impact of these parasites on their host animal or which parameters influence outbreak and intensity of infection. The aim of this study was to obtain new information on the relevance of factors such as season, environmental conditions or age, sex, and body mass of the infected roe deer. To obtain our results, the respiratory tracts of 762 roe deer from south-eastern Germany were examined.
In the sample, 42.5 % of roe deer were infested with V. capreoli and 14.0 % with D. capreolus, 51.3 % of animals were completely free of lung parasites. Testing for influencing variables, our regression models found both sex and age of the roe deer to statistically influence infestation, with male sex and younger age correlating with both stron..., , , # \"Why is our roe deer short of breath? – Prevalence and promotive factors of lung parasites in roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) in southeast Germany.\"

Access this dataset on Dryad: doi:10.5061/dryad.xsj3tx9pj

**This dataset contains the data collected for our study on lungworm infection in roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) in southeast Germany.**

**Description of the data and file structure:**
Columns A - H of the dataset contain information on the roe deer tested for lung parasites Varestrongylus capreoli and Dictyocaulus capreolus.

The remaining columns (I - Q) provide information on the infection with lungworms.

**The following abbreviations were used:**
na = not available
(Since our data was collected in a field study, under field conditions, we could not provide a value in some cases and therefore marked the cells with \"na\". For example, in a few cases the sex, age or weight of the roe deer could not be detected and when lungs were damaged the number of breeding knots of the small...