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Occurrence of Baylisascaris Procyonis in Marin, Sonoma, and Alameda Counties in Northern California

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Occurrence of Baylisascaris Procyonis in Marin, Sonoma, and Alameda Counties in Northern California Occurrence of Baylisascaris procyonis i n M arin, Sonoma, and A l ameda Counti es i n Northern California Valkyrie P. Kimball*†, D ee Young*, Ron Kei th †, Kevi n R. Kazacos‡, and Judy Sakanari * *Dept. of Bi ol ogy, Sonoma State Uni versi ty, Rohnert Park, CA 94928; †M ari n/ Sonoma M osqui to and Vector Control Di stri ct, Cotati , CA 94931; ‡D ept. of Veteri nar y Pathbi ol ogy, Purdue Uni versi ty, West Lafayette, IN 47907 Correspondence and Proofs: Dr. Judy Sakanari , Dept. of Bi ol ogy, Sonoma State Uni versi ty, Rohnert Park, Ca 94928 EM : sakanari @sonoma.edu 1 ABSTRACT: Bay l i sascar i s pr ocy oni s, a common intestinal parasite of raccoons, Procyon lotor, i n N orth A meri ca, can cause seri ous and someti mes fatal l arva mi grans i n humans and many speci es of mammal s and birds. The pur pose of thi s stud y w as to d eter mi ne the pr ev al ence of i nf ecti on of Baylisascari s adul ts and eggs i n raccoons and raccoon latrines in Marin and Sonoma Counties and at a university student housing facility in Alameda County in northern California. We found that 4 of 6 (67%) and 2 of 4 (50%) r accoons necr opsi ed i n M ar i n and Sonoma Counti es, r especti v el y , w er e posi ti v e for B. procyonis, w i th an av er age i ntensi ty of i nf ecti on of 3 w or ms (r ange = 1-10). 13 of 35 (37%) and 5 of 9 (56%) capti ve raccoons at w i ldlife centers in Marin and Sonoma counti es, r especti v el y , w ere shedd i ng B. procyonis eggs i n their feces. 12 of 17 (71%), 1 of 3 (33%), and 13 of 19 (68%) raccoon l atri nes exami ned i n Sonoma and M ari n counti es and at the University of California - Ber kel ey student housing complex in Alameda county , r especti v el y , w er e posi ti v e f or B. procyonis eggs. These findings, although somewhat limited in scope, indicate that B. procyonis is common in these counties in northern California and that appropriate precautions should be taken concerning raccoons and their feces in order to prevent human and animal infection with this parasi te. 2 The l ar ge r ound w or m, Bayl i sascari s procyonis (A scaridoi dea: A scari di dae) i s a common intestinal parasite of raccoons, Procyon lotor, i n N or th A mer i ca. Pr ev al ences of infection have ranged from 68% to 82% in the Midwestern and Northeastern United States to 58%, to 100% on the West Coast (Kazacos and Boyce, 1989; Kazacos, 2001). Although the parasite causes little pathology in the raccoon, mi grati ng l arvae can cause ser i ous and someti mes f atal centr al ner v ous sy stem (CN S) d i sease i n humans and many ani mal s. B. procyonis has caused f atal or sev er e CN S d i sease i n ov er 90 speci es of bi r d s and mammals, including humans, in North Ameri ca (Kazacos 2001). 14 cases of human CN S i nfecti on by B. procyonis hav e been di agnosed i n the Uni ted States from 1975 - 2002 (Kazacos 2000; Kazacos 2001). Four cases occurred i n Cal i f or ni a, thr ee i nv ol v i ng sev er e CN S d i sease i n y oung chi l d r en f r om the San Franci sco Bay area (Row l ey et al. 2000; Park et al . 2000) and Santa Barbara County (E. Schul man, Santa Barbara County Publi c H eal th Department, DCDC Cal i forni a CD Bri ef CDH S 5/ 08/ 02 w eek 19). The fourth case w as di agnosed i n a 17 year-old male residing i n L os A ngel es (W . A . Kenned y, H ar bor-U CLA M ed i cal Center , per sonal communi cati on 2001). In addi ti on, B. procyonis i s recogni zed as an i mportant cause of human ocul ar l arva mi grans, w i th cases di agnosed throughout N orth A meri ca, including the San Francisco Bay area (Goldberg et al., 1993). The objecti ve of thi s study w as to d eter mi ne the occur r ence of i nf ecti on of B. procyonis adults and eggs in raccoons 3 and raccoon latrines in Marin and Sonoma counties and at a university student-housing facility in Alameda County in northern California. Raccoon f eces w er e col l ected f or exami nati on f r om: 1) i ntesti nal contents of d ead raccoons at necropsy; 2) capti ve raccoons housed at M ari n Wil dCare, San Rafael , CA and Sonoma County Wi l dl i fe Rescue Center, Santa Rosa, CA ; and 3) natural l y occurri ng r accoon l atr i ne si tes. Raccoons f or necr opsy w er e ei ther r oad -ki l l speci mens (n = 4; Sonoma County) or animals that died or were euthanized while under the care of the w i l d l i f e center s (n = 6; M ar i n Wi l d Car e). N ecr opsi es w ere performed within 48 hours postmortem on fresh or refrigerated raccoon carcasses or w ithin one to tw o w eeks for frozen carcasses. A midline abdominal incision was made, and the small and large i ntesti nes w er e r emov ed and opened. A ny B. procyonis pr esent w er e r emov ed and pl aced i nto 70% ethanol . Car casses w ere i nci ner ated af ter necr opsy . Fecal sampl es (appr oxi matel y 5 gr ams each) w er e col l ected d ur i ng June 1999- N ovember 2000 from 39 raccoon l atri ne si tes in Sonoma (n = 17) and M ari n (n = 3) counti es and at the Uni versi ty of Cal iforni a -Ber k el ey stud ent-housing complex in A l ameda county (n = 19). Latri ne si tes w ere identi fi ed as raccoon feces accordi ng to size, coloration and texture consistent with raccoon stool and that these latrines had the common characteristic of being “ piled up” in one concentrated area. The distribution of the latrines was highly variable among all three counties. Several sites in Sonoma County were isolated in fields, pastures or along hiking trails with less than 10 separate stool s per si te. I n sev er al ur ban ar eas (back y ar d s, gar d en ar eas, etc.), the l atr i nes contained substantial amounts of fecal piles with up to 30 separate stool specimen in an 4 area often less than one square foot. To prevent redundancy, none of the latri ne si tes w ere sampl ed more than once. Fecal sampl es (n = 44) from raccoons at the w il dli fe r ehabi l i tati on center s w er e al so col l ected and anal y zed f or B. procyonis eggs prior to the ani mal s’ r el ease i nto the w i l d (Tabl e 1 ages, sex, etc). I ntesti nal contents f r om the 10 necropsi ed raccoons w ere al so analyzed for eggs and adul t w orms. 6 out the 10 ani mal s necr opsi ed w er e ad ul ts. The other 4 w ere i d enti f i ed as juv eni l es (> 6 months ol d). Fecal speci mens w er e anal y zed f or B. procyonis eggs by standing flotation using Fecal y zer ki ts (Evsco Pharmaceuti cal Corp., Oceansi de, N Y) and sodi um ni trate flotation solution (specific gravity 1.25 – 1.30). A fter 10-15 mi nutes, cov er sl i ps w er e removed, pl aced on gl ass sl i des and exami ned mi croscopi cal ly at 100x magni fication. B. procyonis eggs were identified based on their size, ellipsoidal shape, brown color, and fi nel y granul ar surface (Kazacos, 2000; Kazacos, 2001). In M ari n and Sonoma counti es, 4 of 6 (67%) and 2 of 4 (50%), respecti vel y, of necropsi ed raccoons contained B. procyonis ad ul t w or ms, with a mean intensity of infection of 3 w orms (range 1-10). N ecropsi ed raccoons checked for fecal sampl es i nd i cated that i ntesti nal f eces w er e present w hen ad ul t w or ms w er e pr esent i n the i ntesti ne. Fecal sampl es of 5 of 9 (56%) capti ve raccoons at Sonoma County Wi l dl ife Rescue center w er e posi ti v e f or B. procyonis eggs, w hi l e 13 of 35 (37%) fecal sampl es col l ected fr om r accoons at M ar i n Wi l d Car e w er e posi ti v e.
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