Title
Health Survey of Free-Ranging Raccons (Procyon lotor) in Central Park, New York, New York, USA: Implications for Human and Domestic Animal Health
Author(s)
Rainwater, Kimberly L.;Marchese, Krysten;Slavinski, Sally;Humberg, Lee A.;Dubovi, Edward J.;Jarvis, Jodie A.;McAloose, Denise;Calle, Paul P.
Published
2017
Publisher
Journal of Wildlife Diseases
Abstract
≥0.5 IU/mL in 9 of 88 (10%) raccoons naive to rabies vaccination and in 13 of 20 (65%) previously vaccinated raccoons. The majority of raccoons we tested were seropositive for canine parvovirus-2 (54/59, 92%) and Toxoplasma gondii (39/60, 65%). Fewer were seropositive for Rickettsia rickettsii (3/30, 10%). None were seropositive for CDV (n=108), canine adenovirus-1 (n=60), or Borrelia burgdorferi (n=30).Ectoparasites found during 16 of 118 (13.6%) physical examinations included Ixodes texanus ticks (15/118, 12.7%) and Trichodectes octomaculatus lice (1/118, 0.8%). We detected Campylobacter jejuni in 5 of 79 (6%) fecal samples. We detected 11 Salmonella enterica serotypes in 70 of 111 (63.1%) enteric cultures, the most common of which were Salmonella Newport (20/70, 29%) and Salmonella Oranienburg (20/70, 29%). These results indicate that raccoons in Central Park likely are involved in the environmental occurrence and potential disease transmission of a variety of infectious and noninfectious diseases of concern for human, wildlife, and domestic animal health.
Keywords
Canine distemper virus;epidemiology;Procyon lotor;public health;rabies;raccoon;Salmonella;zoonosis
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PUB22496