Parasites [viruses, Coccidia and helminths] of the wild rabbit [Oryctolagus cuniculus] introduced to Canary Islands from Iberian Peninsula

Abstract

The presence of viruses (myxomatosis and haemorrhagic fever), helminth parasites and coccidia were studied in European wild rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) introduced from the Iberian Peninsula to Tenerife Island (Canary Islands). Rabbits were captured between 1998 and 2000 in four geographic zones in Tenerife Island. Blood samples were taken from rabbits before dissection and faeces were obtained from the rectum of the individuals for the purposes of the protozoological study. In sera samples, Elisa test was carried out to detect antibodies for myxomatosis and haemorrhagic fever. Helminths were removed from the diges-tive tract and sporulated coccidia were obtained in potassium dichromate. Significant differences in the prevalence of the myx-omatosis between years, seasons and zones were found. In all zones, there were no statistically significant differences between rabbits infected with haemorrhagic fever. Furthermore, no significant differences in prevalence between years and seasons were observed for the haemorrhagic fever. Five helminth species were found: Taenia pisiformis (larvae), Mosgovoyia ctenoides, Andrya cuniculi, Trichostrongylus retortaeformis and Passalurus ambiguus. No significant seasonal differences in the preva-lence for any helminth species were detected. There were significant differences for the mean intensities of T. retortaeformis between the spring and the autumn 1999 and between the autumn and the winter 1999. Seasonal significant differences in the prevalence for Eimeria spp. were detected. A significant correlation between the myxomatosis and the mean intensity of T. pisi-formis was found. Haemorrhagic fever and coccidian prevalence showed no significant relationship. The obtained results on