title: The red fox (Vulpes vulpes) plays a minor role in the epidemiology of the domestic cycle of Trichinella in Romania.
abstract: Nematode worms of the genus Trichinella are zoonotic parasites with a worldwide distribution. The majority of the biomass of these nematodes circulates among wildlife, but when humans fail in the proper management of domestic animals and wildlife, Trichinella infections are transmitted from the sylvatic to the domestic environment. Such failures occur in Romania, where a high prevalence of Trichinella spiralis has been detected in domestic pigs. The aim of the present study was to provide data about the prevalence of Trichinella spp. infections in red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) that are hunted in Romanian counties, in which the prevalences of Trichinella spp. infection in backyard and free-ranging pigs range from 0.17 to 2.5%, to determine the role played by this carnivore species in the transmission of the parasite to domestic cycle. A total of 121 animals from 45 hunting grounds of three counties were screened to detect Trichinella spp. larvae by the digestion method. Infections were detected in 26 (21.5%) foxes from 18 (40%) hunting grounds of the three counties (13/67 in Arad, 1/3 in Hunedoara, and 12/51 in Timiş). The mean larval density was 10.5 larvae per gram. Of the 25 successfully tested samples, the Trichinella larvae from 24 isolates were identified as T. britovi (96%), and the larvae from one isolate were identified as T. spiralis (4%). No mixed infections were recorded. The present results revealed that the red fox should be considered an important T. britovi reservoir in the sylvatic cycle; in contrast, the detection of only a single T. spiralis-positive isolate suggests that red foxes play a minor role in the epidemiology of the domestic cycle in the investigated area of western Romania.
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Production and Veterinary Public Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Banat's University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine "King Michael I of Romania" Timişoara, Calea Aradului no. 119, 300645 Timişoara, Romania.
authors.forename: Kálmán
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Imre
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious, Parasitic and Immunomediated Diseases, Istituto Superiore di Sanitá, viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Edoardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pozio
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious, Parasitic and Immunomediated Diseases, Istituto Superiore di Sanitá, viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Daniele
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tonanzi
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Production and Veterinary Public Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Banat's University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine "King Michael I of Romania" Timişoara, Calea Aradului no. 119, 300645 Timişoara, Romania. Electronic address: salaclau@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sala
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Banat's University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine "King Michael I of Romania" Timişoara, Calea Aradului no. 119, 300645 Timişoara, Romania.
authors.forename: Marius S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Ilie
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Banat's University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine "King Michael I of Romania" Timişoara, Calea Aradului no. 119, 300645 Timişoara, Romania.
authors.forename: Mirela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Imre
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Production and Veterinary Public Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Banat's University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine "King Michael I of Romania" Timişoara, Calea Aradului no. 119, 300645 Timişoara, Romania.
authors.forename: Adriana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Morar
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D005589:Foxes; D008297:Male; D012383:Romania / Q000453:epidemiology; D014234:Trichinella / Q000502:physiology*; D014235:Trichinellosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000635:transmission / Q000662:veterinary*
keywords: Domestic cycle; Red fox; Romania; Sylvatic cycle; Trichinella