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An experimental field approach to parasitism and immune defence in voles

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 June 2004

G. A. SCHWARZENBACH ,
D. HEGGLIN ,
C. STIEGER ,
P. DEPLAZES  and
P. I. WARD
G. A. SCHWARZENBACH
Affiliation:
Zoological Museum, University of Zürich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057 Zürich, Switzerland
D. HEGGLIN
Affiliation:
Institute of Parasitology, University of Zürich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057 Zürich, Switzerland
C. STIEGER
Affiliation:
Institute of Parasitology, University of Zürich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057 Zürich, Switzerland
P. DEPLAZES
Affiliation:
Institute of Parasitology, University of Zürich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057 Zürich, Switzerland
P. I. WARD
Affiliation:
Zoological Museum, University of Zürich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057 Zürich, Switzerland
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Abstract

The fox tapeworm Echinococcus multilocularis is typically perpetuated in a cycle with red foxes as definitive hosts and various rodent species as intermediate hosts. In this study, foxes were baited with a highly efficient drug against cestodes (praziquantel) in 5 blocks of 1 km2. Voles, Arvicola terrestris, the most abundant intermediate host species, were trapped in the 5 baited blocks and in 5 non-baited control blocks. Baiting the foxes reduced the prevalence of E. multilocularis in fox faecal samples in the baited blocks, but voles trapped in the two blocks did not differ in their infection rates. However, voles from the baited blocks had significantly smaller spleen masses and were more likely to be infested with mites than those from the control blocks, possibly reflecting different immunological activities. Our study suggests that the environmental contamination with E. multilocularis eggs, and perhaps those of other tapeworms, influences the immune system of the intermediate host species A. terrestris in the wild.

Keywords

Arvicola terrestrisEchinococcus multilocularisurban foxrodentinfection pressure
Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 129 , Issue 1 , July 2004 , pp. 93 - 99
Copyright
© 2004 Cambridge University Press

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