Prevalence of zoonotic important parasites in the red fox (Vulpes vulpes) in Great Britain

A national necropsy survey of red foxes was carried out across Great Britain to record Echinococcus, Trichinella and Toxoplasma. The survey did not record directly, or indirectly using coproantigen/PCR tests, evidence for the presence of Echinococcus multilocularis in 588 animals, although E. granulosus was suspected in six animals. Parasitological evidence for Trichinella spp. could not be found in 587 fox muscle digests, and a specific PCR test also failed to detect Toxoplasma in a sub-set of 61 random fox tongue biopsies. The upper 95% confidence interval for the above parasites was 0.60% (E. multilocularis), 0.60% (Trichinella spp.) and 5.6% (Toxoplasma). The commonest gut parasites were the hookworm Uncinaria stenocephala (41.3%) and the ascarid Toxocara canis (61.6%). This study also reports the second occurrence of Trichuris vulpis in Great Britain.