Parasitic helminths from feral raccoons (Procyon lotor) in Japan

Abstract

An epidemiological survey of 1688 free-ranging raccoons (Procyon lotor) captured on the Japanese main islands of Hokkaido, Honshu and Kyushu was undertaken to determine whether Baylisascaris procyonis, which provokes fatal neurological larva migrans was present; however, the worm was not detected in any of these individuals. A helminthological investigation was carried out on 229 of the captured raccoons and the following worms obtained: Toxocara tanuki, Porrocaecum sp., Molineus legerae, Ancylostoma kushimaense, Aonchotheca putorii, Centrorhynchus sp., Centrorhynchus bazaleticus, C. elongatum, Plagiorhynchidae gen sp., Hemiechinosoma sp., Metagonimus takahashii, M. miyatai, Euparyphium sp., Plagiorchis muris, Brachylaima sp., and Taenia hydatigena. These were the first records of Porrocaecum sp., M. miyatai, Brachylaima sp. and T. hydatigena obtained from Japanese feral raccoons. Scanning electron microscopic and/or molecular analyses were performed for both T. tanuki and T. hydatigena as these helminths both have a zoonotic counterpart amongst their families.