Gastrointestinal helminths of feral raccoons (Procyon lotor) in Wakayama Prefecture, Japan.

The population and distribution of feral raccoons (Procyon lotor) are expanding in Japan after escape or release from animal-owners. Wakayama Prefecture is one of the most typically devastated areas by this exotic carnivore, particularly in the last five years after a latent distribution for more than ten years. Official control measures of feral raccoons commenced in the summer of 2002 by several municipalities, and 531 animals collected in 12 municipalities between May 2003 and April 2005 were submitted for parasitological examination of gastrointestinal helminths. Detected parasites included six nematodes (Physaloptera sp. [prevalence; 5.1%], Contracaecum spiculigerum [0.9%], Strongyloides procyonis [25.5%], Ancylostoma kusimaense [0.8%], Arthrostoma miyazakiense [0.4%], and Molineus legerae [1.1%]), seven trematodes (Isthmiophora hortensis [4.9%], echinostomatid sp. with 34-39 collar spines [1.7%], Metagonimus takahashii [12.4%], M. yokogawai [0.8%], Plagiorchis muris [0.2%], Macroorchis spinulosus [1.9%], and Consinium ten [0.2%]), one cestode (Mesocestoides sp. [0.2%]), and six acanthocephalan spp. (Centrorhynchus bazalenticus [0.2%], Centrorhynchus teres [5.5%], Sphaerirostris lanceoides [2.4%], Plagiorhynchus ogatai [0.6%], Porrorchis oti [1.5%], and Southwelina hispida [1.9%]). Most of the collected parasites are food-borne, indigenous helminth species. Physaloptera sp. has never been recorded in indigenous wild carnivores in Japan, and resembles closely P. rara, prevalent in raccoons of North America, in morphology. The position of a pair of phasmids in the posteroventral region of the adult male, however, could differentiate it from P. rara. Since Strongyloides procyonis is known to cause creeping eruption as well as intestinal infection in a healthy human volunteer, we should be concerned about the rapid increase in the population and distribution of feral raccoons in Japan from the viewpoint of public health as well.