Endoparasitic fauna of two South American foxes in Chile: Lycalopex culpaeus and Lycalopex griseus

Abstract Native foxes face serious threats related to anthropic activities and the uncontrolled pets. However, the transmission of several pathogens such as parasites by domestic dogs is an important conservation issue with limited attention in Chile. The lack of a proper identification of the helminths of wild canids in the country, based mostly in coprological studies, limited our knowledge in potential interspecific transmission. Thus, the aim of the present survey was to identify the parasitic fauna of two native canids, the Andean fox (Lycalopex culpaeus) (n=49) and Chilla (Lycalopex griseus) (n=17), from several localities in Chile through a complete parasitological survey. Sixteen different species were identified, 9 of which are new host records for Andean fox and two for Chilla fox in South America, and three are recorded for first time in Chile. Also, five of them are of zoonotic concern and six are known to use domestic dogs as their principal hosts. These findings have implications for public health and the conservation of canids whose interspecific transmission of parasites with domestic dogs is confirmed through these findings. The need for an exhaustive surveillance of wild carnivores is emphasized considering these hosts as important sources of micro- and macroparasites.

摘要：本土狐类正面临来自人类活动与无约束宠物的严重威胁。然而，家犬传播寄生虫等多种病原体的问题，是智利当前关注度不足的重要保护议题。目前智利针对野生犬科动物的蠕虫鉴定多依赖粪便学研究，缺乏规范的鉴定体系，这限制了学界对其潜在种间传播的认知。为此，本研究通过全面的寄生虫学调查，对智利多个采样点的两种本土犬科动物——安第斯狐（Lycalopex culpaeus，n=49）和智利狐（Lycalopex griseus，n=17）——的寄生生物区系进行了鉴定。本次调查共检出16种寄生虫：其中9种为安第斯狐的新宿主记录，2种为南美洲境内智利狐的新宿主记录，另有3种为智利境内首次报道的寄生虫物种。此外，其中5种具备人兽共患风险，6种以家犬为主要宿主。本研究证实了野生犬科动物与家犬之间存在寄生虫种间传播，该发现对公共卫生管理与犬科动物保护均具有重要意义。鉴于野生食肉动物是多种微寄生生物与宏寄生生物的重要宿主，亟需对其开展全面的监测工作。