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© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.

Abstract

Red foxes are the most abundant wild carnivore species in Europe commonly exposed to pathogenic Leptospira and Hepatozoon canis. Despite high seroprevalence, the clinical disease caused by these pathogens in red foxes has never been reported. Herein, we report the first-ever case of a fatal Leptospira spp. and H. canis coinfection in a two-month-old red fox cub with acute haemolytic anaemia, mild bronchopneumonia, intraalveolar haemorrhage, and tubulonephrosis. The presence of pathogenic Leptospira spp. DNA was detected in the kidney and lung tissues of the infected animal. In contrast to our previous knowledge, we believe that such fatal cases due to concomitant infection by Leptospira spp. and H. canis, especially in young animals, may commonly occur in nature. However, further studies are required to identify other factors that possibly contribute to the severity and the pathogenic effect of Leptospira spp. and H. canis infections in red foxes.

Details

Title
A Unique Case of Fatal Coinfection Caused by Leptospira spp. and Hepatozoon canis in a Red Fox Cub (Vulpes vulpes)
Author
Alić, Amer 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Šupić, Jovana 1 ; Goletić, Teufik 2   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Rešidbegović, Emina 2 ; Lutvikadić, Ismar 3   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Hodžić, Adnan 4 

 Department of Pathology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Sarajevo, Zmaja od Bosne 90, 71000 Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina; [email protected] 
 Department of Avian Diseases and Management, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Sarajevo, Zmaja od Bosne 90, 71000 Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina; [email protected] (T.G.); [email protected] (E.R.) 
 Department of Surgery, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Sarajevo, Zmaja od Bosne 90, 71000 Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina; [email protected] 
 Department of Pathobiology, Institute of Parasitology, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Veterinaerplatz 1, 1210 Vienna, Austria; [email protected] 
First page
11
Publication year
2022
Publication date
2022
Publisher
MDPI AG
e-ISSN
20760817
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2621380875
Copyright
© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.