Parasitic helminths from feral raccoons (Procyon lotor) in Japan

An epidemiological survey of 1688 free-ranging raccoons (Procyon lotor) captured on the Japanese main islands of Hokkaido, Honshu and Kyushu was undertaken to determine whether Baylisascaris procyonis, which provokes fatal neurological larva migrans was present; however, the worm was not detected in any of these individuals. A helminthological investigation was carried out on 229 of the captured raccoons and the following worms obtained: Toxocara tanuki, Porrocaecum sp., Molineus legerae, Ancylostoma kushimaense, Aonchotheca putorii, Centrorhynchus sp., Centrorhynchus bazaleticus, C elongatum, Plagiorhynchidae gen sp., Hemiechinosoma sp., Metagonimus takahashii, M miyatai, Euparyphium sp., Plagiorchis muris, Brachylaima sp., and Taenia hydatigena. These were the first records of Porrocaecum sp., M miyatai, Brachylaima sp. and T hydatigena obtained from Japanese feral raccoons. Scanning electron microscopic and/or molecular analyses were performed for both T tanuki and T hydatigena as these helminths both have a zoonotic counterpart amongst their families.