ArticleParasites & vectors2017
Mathematical modelling of Echinococcus multilocularis abundance in foxes in Zurich, Switzerland.
Article in Parasites & vectors, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 26 citations in OpenAlex.
- Strategies for tackling Taenia solium taeniosis/cysticercosis: A systematic review and comparison of transmission models, including an assessment of the wider Taeniidae family transmission models.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2019Pooled it
- Winter is coming … How the hoarding behaviour of rodents fosters the persistence ofInternational journal for parasitology. Parasites and wildlife · 2026Article
- Analysis and prediction of the incidence temporal trends of echinococcosis in China from 2010 to 2021.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Multiscale ecological drivers ofFood and waterborne parasitology · 2024Article
- Emerging zoonotic diseases originating in mammals: a systematic review of effects of anthropogenic land-use change.Mammal review · 2020Review
- Regulation of hepatic microRNAs in response to early stage Echinococcus multilocularis egg infection in C57BL/6 mice.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2020Article
- Urban colonization through multiple genetic lenses: The city-fox phenomenon revisited.Ecology and evolution · 2019Article
- Mathematical Global Dynamics and Control Strategies onComputational and mathematical methods in medicine · 2019Article
- Latent class models for Echinococcus multilocularis diagnosis in foxes in Switzerland in the absence of a gold standard.Parasites & vectors · 2017Article
- Detection of Echinococcus multilocularis and other foodborne parasites in fox, cat and dog faeces collected in kitchen gardens in a highly endemic area for alveolar echinococcosis.Parasite (Paris, France) · 2017Article
- Gastrointestinal parasites of baboons (Open veterinary journalArticle
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundIn Europe, the red fox (Vulpes vulpes) is the main definitive host of Echinococcus multilocularis, the aetiological agent of a severe disease in humans called alveolar echinococcosis. The distribution of this zoonotic parasite among the fox population is remarkably aggregated with few heavily infected animals harbouring much of the parasite burdens and being responsible for most of the environmental parasitic egg contamination. Important research questions explored were: (i) spatial differences in parasite infection pressure related to the level of urbanization; (ii) temporal differences in parasite infection pressure in relation to time of the year; (iii) is herd immunity or an age-dependent infection pressure responsible for the observed parasite abundance; (iv) assuming E. multilocularis infection is a clumped process, how many parasites results from a regular infection insult.
methodsBy developing and comparing different transmission models we characterised the spatio-temporal variation of the infection pressure, in terms of numbers of parasites that foxes acquired after exposure per unit time, in foxes in Zurich (Switzerland). These included the variations in infection pressure with age of fox and season and the possible regulating effect of herd immunity on parasite abundance.
resultsThe model fitting best to the observed data supported the existence of spatial and seasonal differences in infection pressure and the absence of parasite-induced host immunity. The periodic infection pressure had different amplitudes across urbanization zones with higher peaks during autumn and winter. In addition, the model indicated the existence of variations in infection pressure among age groups in foxes from the periurban zone.
conclusionsThese heterogeneities in infection exposure have strong implications for the implementation of targeted control interventions to lower the intensity of environmental contamination with parasite eggs and, ultimately, the infection risk to humans.
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