The wolves caught an animal that people fear. Scientists: The threat will grow

Researchers identified pathogens using molecular methods, using genetic material isolated from 50 samples obtained from blood and tissues in 2001-2020. Both estrous blood of she-wolves, collected from the snow surface during tracking, and samples obtained directly from injured and dead individuals were analyzed. The research results were published in the journal “Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases”.

Wolves contract diseases from ticks

According to the author of the research, Dr. hab. Agnieszka Kloch from the Department of Ecology, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, “in 18 percent of the samples, the presence of the parasitic protozoan Babesia canis, causing babesiosis, was identified. Infections with the bacterium Anaplasma phagocytophilum, causing anaplasmosis, were much less numerous. It was found in only one individual found in Pomerania.”

Researchers warn, however, that the mere presence of the pathogen in a wolf does not immediately mean a deterioration of its condition. – Individuals in good condition may not show symptoms of disease despite contact with the pathogen. However, in weakened wolves, the disease will develop on a large scale – comments the co-author of the study, Dr. hab. Robert Mysłajek, professor at the University of Warsaw and vice-president of the Association for Nature “Wilk”. – A good example was a wolf from Pomerania, whose anaplasmosis was combined with acute infection with skin mites that cause scabies. Both pathogens identified in wolves are spread by .

Ticks are increasing due to climate change

According to scientists, the threat from tick-borne diseases will increase due to warming, which will favor both an increase in the number of ticks and an expansion of the range of species that are rare or previously absent in our country. A good example is the field tick Dermacentor reticulatus, which transmits Babesia canis, the range of which has expanded rapidly throughout northeastern Europe, including Poland.

Assessing the health of large predators is extremely difficult due to their relatively low population density, use of large territories and generally secretive lifestyle. Therefore, it is rarely possible to obtain good quality samples from them for research. To solve this problem, it is necessary to conduct large-scale projects involving a large number of field workers. Thanks to the cooperation of experts from the Association for Nature “Wilk”, who monitor the mortality of wolves in Poland, with scientists from the University of Warsaw and the University of Gdańsk, scientists learned the degree of infection of these predators with tick-borne diseases. They informed the Science in Poland website about their research.

The project was co-financed by grants from the National Science Center, the Ministry of Science and Higher Education as part of the “Implementation Doctorate” project and the budget of the Association for Nature “Wilk”. (PAP, zan/)