Pulmonary lesions in red foxes with lungworms

Crenosoma vulpis and Eucoleus aerophila are two lungworms responsible for verminous pneumonia in wild foxes and other carnivores including dogs. There is a paucity of information regarding the distribution, type and magnitude of airway lesions in foxes naturally infected with C. vulpis and E. aerophila. The first objective of this investigation was to determine the lobar and airway distribution of lungworms in wild red foxes. Samples systematically obtained from the cranial, intermediate and caudal lung lobes showed that 74% (38/51) and 33%(17/51) of the wild foxes on Prince Edward Island had microscopic evidence of C. vulpis and E. aerophila respectively. Farmed foxes (n = 30) used as negative control animals were free of lung parasites. The second objective was to characterize the microscopic changes in the lung. The third objective was to study the frequency and association of bronchial and bronchiolar changes with the presence of C. vulpis and E. aerophila in the lung. The final objective was to quantify the severity of bronchial glandular hyperplasia by means of the Reid index and the magnitude of mucous obstruction in the bronchioles by morphometric analyses. (Abstract shortened by UMI.).Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 41-02, page: 0463.Adviser: Alfonso Lopez