During the 2007–2008 hunting season, 150 spleen samples were collected from free-ranging red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) in central Italy. The specimens were tested by two nested PCR assays to detect DNA of Anaplasma phagocytophilum, etiologic agent of granulocytic ehrlichiosis of animals and humans, and DNA of Ehrlichia canis, which causes the monocytic ehrlichiosis in canids. None of the foxes were PCR-positive for E. canis; 25 (16.6%) were positive for A. phagocytophilum. No specific gross alterations were detected at necropsy, and no histopathologic lesions found on PCR-positive spleen samples.
How to translate text using browser tools
1 July 2011
Molecular Survey of Anaplasma phagocytophilum and Ehrlichia canis in Red Foxes (Vulpes vulpes) from Central Italy
Valentina Virginia Ebani,
Ranieri Verin,
Filippo Fratini,
Alessandro Poli,
Domenico Cerri
ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE
Journal of Wildlife Diseases
Vol. 47 • No. 3
July 2011
Vol. 47 • No. 3
July 2011
Anaplasma phagocytophilum
Ehrlichia canis
histopathology
PCR
red fox
Vulpes vulpes