Broad range screening of Vector-Borne Pathogens in Arctic Foxes (Vulpes lagopus) in Iceland

Hornok, Sándor; Mühldorfer, Kristin; Takács, Nóra; Hofmann-Lehmann, Regina; Meli, Marina L; Gyuranecz, Miklós; Unnsteinsdóttir, Ester R; Greenwood, Alex D; Czirják, Gábor Á

doi:10.5167/uzh-193894

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Hornok, S., Mühldorfer, K., Takács, N., Hofmann-Lehmann, R., Meli, M. L., Gyuranecz, M., Unnsteinsdóttir, E. R., Greenwood, A. D., & Czirják, G. Á. (2020). Broad range screening of Vector-Borne Pathogens in Arctic Foxes (Vulpes lagopus) in Iceland. Animals, 10, 2031. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10112031

Abstract

The arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus) is the only native terrestrial mammal in Iceland. While red foxes (V. vulpes) are known to be epidemiologically important carriers of several vector-borne pathogens in Europe, arctic foxes have never been evaluated in a similar context on this continent. This has become especially relevant in the last decade, considering the establishing populations of the tick species Ixodes ricinus in Iceland. In this study, liver DNA extracts of 60 arctic foxes, hunted between 2011-2012, were molecularly screened for