Age-dependent relationships among diet, body condition, and Echinococcus multilocularis infection in urban coyotes.

ABSTRACT: Urban coyotes (Canis latrans) in North America increasingly exhibit a high prevalence of Echinococcus multilocularis, a cestode of recent and rising public health concern that uses rodents as intermediate hosts and canids as definitive hosts. However, little is known about the factors that drive the high urban prevalence of this parasite. We hypothesized that the diet of urban coyotes may contribute to their higher E. multilocularis infection prevalence via either (a) greater exposure to the parasite from increased rodent consumption or (b) increased susceptibility to infection due to the negative health effects of consuming anthropogenic food. We tested these hypotheses by comparing the presence and intensity of E. multilocularis infection to physiological data (age, sex, body condition,

SUBMITTER: Sugden S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10468061 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature