A survey of Irish red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) to establish the prevalence of Mycobacterium bovis

Abstract Between October 2018 and December 2020, an opportunistic collection of tissues from 218 foxes was undertaken to investigate the prevalence of Mycobacterium bovis (M. bovis) in this species. A pooled sample of lymph nodes, lung and other tissues from each fox, was cultured for the presence o...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Denise Murphy, William FitzGerald, Guy McGrath, Catherine Swan, Kevin Kenny
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2025-03-01
Series:Irish Veterinary Journal
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s13620-025-00295-2
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Summary:Abstract Between October 2018 and December 2020, an opportunistic collection of tissues from 218 foxes was undertaken to investigate the prevalence of Mycobacterium bovis (M. bovis) in this species. A pooled sample of lymph nodes, lung and other tissues from each fox, was cultured for the presence of M. bovis. The organism was not isolated from any fox samples, but non-tuberculous mycobacteria were recovered from 20 foxes. These results suggest that it is unlikely that foxes represent a significant wildlife source of M. bovis in Ireland.
ISSN:2046-0481