scholarly journals Prevalence of the giant liver fluke (fascioloides magna, bassi, 1875) in red deer (cervus elaphus) in the region of floodplain forests of northern Serbia

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jovan Mirčeta ◽  
Miloš Pelić ◽  
Biljana Božić ◽  
Jelena Petrović ◽  
Miroslav Urošević ◽  
...  

This is the first study offering insights into the prevalence of giant liver fluke in the population of red deer in the territory of Serbia. Giang liver fluke (Fascioloides magna, Bassi, 1875) is the most important liver parasite among wild ruminants in Europe, especially in the region of floodplain forests along the upper watercourse of Danube river. The main objective of this research was establishing the prevalence of giant liver fluke in the region of floodplain forests of northern Serbia. In the observed regions (hunting grounds), the population prevalence rates ranged from 0 to 80% with an average prevalence in positive herds being 70.6%. The total population of red deer, from the observed hunting grounds, exposed to the giant liver fluke includes 47.9% of red deer population in Serbia, which is 0.7% of the total hunting area of Serbia. Giant liver fluke is present in north-western regions of Serbia in a narrow area of floodplain forests along the watercourse of Danube and Sava rivers next to the border with Croatia. The red deers populating the wetland basin of “Gornje Podunavlje” migrate freely through the tri-border area of Hungary, Croatia and Serbia making a consistent epizootical unit. Moreover, the game migrates freely between Croatia and Serbia in the area of Posavina forests along the river Sava. All data obtained in this research are essential for further activities aimed at preventing the spread of this parasite within red deer population and thus decreasing consequent damages and losses.

2016 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
pp. 243-247 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Bazsalovicsová ◽  
M. Špakulová ◽  
L’. Juhásová ◽  
Š. Miholics ◽  
D. Rajský ◽  
...  

Summary Fascioloidosis of wild and domestic ruminants is caused by giant liver fluke, Fascioloides magna (Trematoda; Fasciolidae). In Slovakia, the parasite is present in the Danube floodplain forests permanent focus for almost 30 years. Here we provide data on 11-year survey of F. magna acquired from 137 red deer (Cervus elaphus) hunted in the southwestern hunting grounds (districts Komárno and Dunajská Streda). Almost 47 % of all examined deer, including males, females and fawns, were infected with F. magna. During the studied period, the prevalence ranged between 33.3 % (2009) and 63.6 % (2007). Prevalence of fascioloidosis varied between sexes and age categories; while the lowest overall prevalence was detected in females (33.3 %), higher values were documented for red deer males (50.6 %) and fawns (43.3 %). A presence of giant liver fluke in studied regions of southwestern Slovakia deserves future attention and ongoing monitoring due to a possible threat of F. magna infection of domestic ruminants in overlapping regions.


2015 ◽  
Vol 60 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivica Králová-Hromadová ◽  
Eva Bazsalovicsová ◽  
Aleksander W. Demiaszkiewicz

AbstractThe giant liver fluke, Fascioloides magna, is a veterinary important liver parasite of free living and domestic ruminants. This originally North American parasite was introduced along with its cervid hosts to Europe where it has established three permanent natural foci - in northern Italy, central and southern parts of the Czech Republic and the Danube floodplain forests. The first record on fascioloidosis in Poland originated from the Lower Silesian Forest in south-western Poland and since then an occurrence of F. magna in this country has not been documented. Recently, the parasitological examination of red deer (Cervus elaphus elaphus) from the Lower Silesian Wilderness (south-western Poland) revealed the presence of F. magna eggs. In order to determine the genetic interrelationships of the Polish giant liver fluke individuals, they were molecularly analyzed by mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (cox1) and nicotinamide dehydrogenase subunit I (nad1) and compared with haplotypes of so far studied European populations of the parasite. The study revealed the genetic uniformity of F. magna specimens from Poland with part of individuals from the Czech natural focus.Note: Nucleotide sequence data reported in this paper are available in the GenBank


2011 ◽  
Vol 86 (2) ◽  
pp. 190-196 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Severin ◽  
T. Mašek ◽  
Z. Janicki ◽  
D. Konjević ◽  
A. Slavica ◽  
...  

AbstractWe investigated the effects of Fascioloides magna infection on the serum biochemistry values of the naturally infected red deer population in eastern Croatia. The investigation was performed on 47 red deer with F. magna infection confirmed patho-anatomically in 27 animals (57.4%). Fibrous capsules and migratory lesions were found in 14 deer while only fibrous capsules without migratory lesions were found in 13 deer. In 13 deer both immature and mature flukes were found, in 5 deer only immature flukes were found and in 9 deer only mature flukes were found. Fascioloides magna infected deer with fibrous capsules and migratory lesions had significantly higher values for lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), glutamate dehydrogenase (GLDH) and globulin, and lower values for albumin/globulin ratio and glucose compared to uninfected deer. Fascioloides magna infected deer with fibrous capsules without the presence of migratory lesions had higher values for alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and globulin, and lower values for albumin/globulin ratio and glucose, than the uninfected deer. The number of immature flukes was positively correlated with values of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), γ-glutamyltransferase (GGT), LDH, GLDH, urea and triglycerides. The number of migratory lesions was positively correlated with GGT, GLDH, globulin and urea values. The creatinine value was positively correlated with the number of mature flukes. The trial showed that F. magna infection causes significant changes in serum biochemistry. Moreover, these changes do not completely resemble changes following F. hepatica infection. Further investigation of changes in liver enzymes and other serum metabolites in controlled, experimentally induced fascioloidosis in red deer is needed to better understand the pathogenesis of F. magna.


2014 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 523-525 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. M. Pyziel ◽  
A. W. Demiaszkiewicz ◽  
I. Kuligowska

Abstract The study was conducted in 2012-2013 on 75 fecal samples of red deer from the Lower Silesian Wilderness which were examined to determine the prevalence of Fascioloides magna in the game population. Finding liver fluke eggs in a single sample which were larger in size than Fasciola hepatica eggs indicated that further molecular analysis was necessarily. The partial sequence (116 bp long) of ITS-2 of the investigated eggs was identical to the sequences of F. magna from red deer (Cervus elaphus) (GenBank, EF534993; GenBank, EF534992) and from wapiti deer (Cervus elaphus canadensis) (GenBank, EF534994) from Slovakia, as well as from fallow deer (Dama dama) from the USA (GenBank, EF051080). This is the first molecular confirmation of the occurrence of F. magna in Poland.


Author(s):  
Sorin Geacu

The population of Red Deer (Cervus elaphus L., 1758) in Tulcea county (Romania) The presence of the Red Deer in the North-western parts of Tulcea County is an example of the natural expansion of a species spreading area. In North Dobrogea, this mammal first occurred only forty years ago. The first specimens were spotted on Cocoşul Hill (on the territory of Niculiţel area) in 1970. Peak numbers (68 individuals) were registered in the spring of 1987. The deer population (67 specimens in 2007) of this county extended along 10 km from West to East and 20 km from North to South over a total of 23,000 ha (55% of which was forest land) in the East of the Măcin Mountains and in the West of the Niculiţel Plateau.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valerio Donini ◽  
Luca Corlatti ◽  
Luca Pedrotti

AbstractReliable and cost-effective monitoring tools to track population size over time are of key importance for wildlife management and conservation. Deterministic cohort analysis may be used to this aim, especially in hunted populations, but it requires that all mortality events are recorded and that individual age at death is known exactly. In this study, we investigated the reliability of cohort analysis as a relative index to track over-time variation in red deer (Cervus elaphus) abundance, in the absence of exact information about natural mortality and age. Visual tooth inspection was used to age 18,390 individuals found dead or hunted between 1982 and 2020 within the Trentino sector of the Stelvio National Park and the Val di Sole hunting district (Central Italian Alps). Temporal trend of reconstructed population size was checked using spring spotlight counts as a benchmark, through the Buishand range test and a linear model. Our results showed a significant and positive relationship between reconstructed population size and spring spotlight counts between 1982 and 2013, suggesting that cohort analysis could reliably track red deer population trend up to 7 years in the past. With a relative error of  +  1.1 (SD  =  1.5) years in the estimation of age, and fairly stable hunting pressure, our results support the use of deterministic cohort analysis as a relative index of abundance for monitoring red deer over time, even in the absence of exact information about natural mortality. Under violation of assumptions, however, the performance of deterministic reconstruction should be carefully inspected at the management scale.


2015 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cathryn Roberts ◽  
Martin Westbrooke ◽  
Singarayer Florentine ◽  
Simon Cook

Although red deer (Cervus elaphus) have the potential to play a major role in influencing the structure and composition of vegetation, little is known about the dietary preferences of red deer in Australia. In the Grampians National Park, Victoria, where there is a large, established red deer population, there has been concern over the condition of woodlands, with lack of perennial seedling recruitment observed. We estimated the diets of 12 red deer using macroscopic sorting techniques. We examined rumen contents of seven male and five female red deer from four woodland Ecological Vegetation Classes, which indicate that they act as intermediate feeders. A wide variety of plants were ingested, with evergreen tree species, small trees and woody shrubs making up a large proportion of the diet, along with grasses. This study found that red deer show significantly different dietary intake due to sex, with females consuming a diet much higher in grasses, while males consume more trees and shrubs. These findings have implications for the management of red deer populations within the park and broader implications for their effects on Australian ecosystems.


2018 ◽  
Vol XI ◽  
pp. 81-90
Author(s):  
Adam Mohr ◽  
Antoni Przybylski ◽  
Małgorzata Zimnicka – Pluskota ◽  
Damian Spieczyński

The paper presents the current methods of management and environmental conditions of the functioning of red deer population on the Wolin Island. The inventory carried out in 2014 using the drive census method revealed the prevalence of stags in the population (0.86 hinds/1stag) and the population density of 225 individuals/1,000 hectares of the forest, whereas harvest conducted in this season showed merely 22 individuals/1,000 hectares. In the analysed seasons before the inventory, harvest was also low (about 10% of the probable actual state) and despite harvesting mainly hinds, it did not curb the population growth. In the years 2006 – 2014, the yearly harvest in the largest hunting district fluctuated within the range of 14.5 to 60.5, x̅=27.0 individuals/1,000 hectares (n=9), while in the remaining four smaller population management units, the average yearly harvest amounted to only 0.2 to 9.8 individuals/1,000 hectares (n=9). The realized rate of population growth determined by the method of summer deer observation in 2015 amounted to 42.2% of the hinds number. Applying the simulation of the model population meeting the parameters indicated in the inventory, the researchers calculated and proposed the optimal indicators of harvesting individual age and sex groups. The proposed model of hunting monitoring and management assumes optimization of environmental conditions, structure and size of the actual population within the next 10 years.


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