Raccoon Roundworm

Raccoon Roundworm Latest News

Recently, Europe is on alert after a new study revealed the raccoon roundworm, Baylisascaris procyonis, has firmly taken hold in wild raccoons across nine countries.

About Raccoon Roundworm

• The raccoon roundworm (Baylisascaris procyonis) is the common large roundworm or ascarid found in the small intestinal tract of raccoons. 
• It infects raccoons in parts of North America, Europe and Japan, and less commonly in South America.
• The parasite is indigenous to North America and emerging in Europe and Asia after the introduction of North American raccoons for the commercial fur trade in the early 20th              century.
• It can cause severe disease in humans and other animals.
• Primary Hosts of Raccoon Roundworm: Racoons (​Procyon lotor​), Wild and domestic canids

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Transmission & Life Cycle of Raccoon Roundworm

• Infection occurs through ingestion of infective eggs or infected paratenic hosts.
• Eggs passed in racoon faeces are shed in the environment and take 2-4weeks to embryonate  and become infective.
• Many mammals and birds can become paratenic hosts after consuming the eggs.
• Once infective eggs are ingested, the eggs hatch and larvae penetrate the intestinal wall where they can migrate to various tissues (liver, lungs, eyes, and brain), and infect the host.
• Treatment and Control: Raccoons can be successfully treated with several anthelmintics to kill the adult worms.

Source: India Today