Bovine tuberculosis in a free ranging red fox (Vulpes vulpes) from Doñana National Park (Spain)

Abstract

During 1997 and 1998, a survey of Iberian carnivores was conducted to study the epidemiology of bovine tuberculosis in the Doñana National Park and surrounding areas in southwestern Spain. Post-mortem examinations were done on seven red foxes (Vulpes vulpes), two Egyptian mongoose (Herpestes ichneumon), one weasel (Mustela nivalis), two genets (Genetta genetta), one Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus), one Eurasian badger (Meles meles), and two polecats (Mustela putorius). Lesions suggestive of bovine tuberculosis were not detected but, in culture, mycobacterium bovis was isolated from the retropharyngeal lymph nodes of one adult male red fox. This is the first ryort of M. bovis infection in red fox in Spain. © Wildlife Disease Association 2005.