Diseases and Parasites
Raccoon dogs carry 32 different parasitic worms, including eight trematode species, 17 species of nematodes, seven cestodes and particularly Echinococcus. Six species of fleas are known to be carried by them, including Chaetopsylla trichosa, C. globiceps, Paraceras melis, Ctenocephalides felis, C. canis and Pulex irritans. Lice include Dermacentor pictus, Ixodes ricinus, I. persulcatus, I. crenulatus and Acarus siro. Speculation exists that the introduction of the raccoon dog to Europe brought with it infected ticks that introduced the Asian tick-borne meningoencephalitis virus.
Cases of raccoon dogs carrying rabies are known from the lower Volga, Voronezh and Lithuania, and massive epizootics of piroplasmosis were recorded in Ukraine and Tartary. Canine distemper occurs in raccoon dogs inhabiting the northern Caucasus. Captive raccoon dogs in Soviet state animal farms were recorded to carry paratyphoid, anthrax and tuberculosis. Although they can be infected with mange, it does not pose a significant threat to their populations as it does with foxes.
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