Beerli Olivia, Guerra Diogo, Baltrunaite Laima, Deplazes Peter, Hegglin Daniel
Institute of Parasitology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Laboratory of Mammalian Ecology, Nature Research Centre, Vilnius, Lithuania.
Front Vet Sci. 2017 Dec 13;4:216. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2017.00216. eCollection 2017.
A broad range of rodent species are described as potential intermediate hosts for , a wide-spread zoonotic cestode causing alveolar echinococcosis. However, little is known about the relative contribution of these species for parasite reproduction and the maintenance of its life cycle. In a comparative study in a high endemic region in Zurich, Switzerland, we investigated prevalence rates and fertility of in the most abundant vole species as well as the predation rate of foxes on these species. To ensure that the fox families had access to different vole species and that these voles were exposed to the same environmental contamination with parasite eggs, we selected eight study plots where at least two rodent species co-occurred. The parasite prevalence in [11.0%, confidence intervals (CI) 8.9-13.4] was significantly higher than in (5.3%, 3.9-7.1) and (3.9%, 2.0-6.7). None of the, only 29 individuals of, was infected (0%, 0.0-9.8) and the species was excluded for further analyses. Logistic regression models for the prevalences revealed significant differences between nearby study plots and higher infection rates for females, heavier individuals, and individuals trapped during spring, when the prevalence in peaked up to 65% (CI 50-79) in one plot. Furthermore, we detected significantly higher percentages of fertile infections in and than in (OR 11.2 and 6.4, respectively) and a significantly higher protoscolex number in (median 100,000) than in (13,500) and (4,290). The most abundant fox prey remains were of the genera (12.3%, CI 8.4-17.2) and (11.5%, 7.7-16.3), whereas was never recorded as prey (0.0-1.3%). We conclude that and to a lesser extent can be regarded as key intermediate hosts in Western and Central European high-endemic regions whereas and play a marginal role. We, therefore, postulate that distribution models of these species could contribute to predict parasite occurrence on a more detailed spatial scale than models of the distribution of foxes which have a very broad and uniform distribution.
多种啮齿动物被描述为多房棘球绦虫的潜在中间宿主，多房棘球绦虫是一种广泛传播的人兽共患绦虫，可引起肺泡型棘球蚴病。然而，对于这些物种在寄生虫繁殖及其生命周期维持方面的相对作用，我们却知之甚少。在瑞士苏黎世的一个高流行地区进行的一项比较研究中，我们调查了当地数量最多的田鼠物种体内多房棘球绦虫的感染率和繁殖力，以及狐狸对这些物种的捕食率。为确保狐狸家族能够接触到不同的田鼠物种，并且这些田鼠暴露于相同程度的寄生虫卵环境污染中，我们选择了八个研究地块，这些地块中至少有两种啮齿动物同时存在。[某物种]的寄生虫感染率[11.0%，置信区间（CI）8.9 - 13.4]显著高于[另一物种]（5.3%，3.9 - 7.1）和[又一物种]（3.9%，2.0 - 6.7）。[某物种]无一感染，[另一物种]仅29只个体被感染（0%，0.0 - 9.8），该物种被排除在进一步分析之外。感染率的逻辑回归模型显示，相邻研究地块之间存在显著差异，雌性、体重较重的个体以及春季捕获的个体感染率更高，春季时[某物种]的感染率在一个地块中高达65%（CI 50 - 79）。此外，我们检测到[某物种]和[另一物种]中可育感染的百分比显著高于[又一物种]（分别为优势比11.2和6.4），并且[某物种]的原头节数量（中位数100,000）显著高于[另一物种]（13,500）和[又一物种]（4,290）。狐狸捕食的最常见猎物残骸属于[某属]（12.3%，CI 8.4 - 17.2）和[另一属]（11.5%，7.7 - 16.3），而[某物种]从未被记录为猎物（0.0 - 1.3%）。我们得出结论，在西欧和中欧高流行地区，[某物种]以及在较小程度上的[另一物种]可被视为关键中间宿主，而[又一物种]和[再一物种]则起次要作用。因此，我们推测这些物种的分布模型可能有助于在比狐狸分布模型更详细的空间尺度上预测寄生虫的出现，因为狐狸分布非常广泛且均匀。
