Warning of the spread of foxes in cities-ex-RKI boss warns of serious diseases

Warning of the spread of foxes in cities-ex-RKI boss warns of serious diseases

Foxes are increasingly being spotted not only in forests and parks, but also in the middle of residential areas. According to the former head of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), Lothar Wieler, this is not a good development and can cause serious illnesses.

WIELER warns above all of the fox tapeworm, which gets into the cities by mixing the living environments of wild animals and people. The fox tapeworm is one of the few parasites in our latitudes, which can cause a rare but potentially serious illness in humans, according to the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL).

The larvae stages of the fox tapeworm can cause cancer -like changes, especially in the liver, that can be life -threatening. The fox is leaving the tapeworm members and eggs with the feces, and these are very resistant in the environment. Human infection can be infected by taking the eggs from the fox tapeworm worm carriers. This can be done either through close contact with the animals or through contaminated foods, such as forest and berry fruits (heath and cranberries) or water.

Wieler warns against feeding foxes or other wild animals or allowing them to find food close to residential areas. This gives you unnecessary chance of risking contacts. The foxes should therefore return to their natural environment.

According to the Naturschutzbund (NABU), the first evidence of Füchsen in Berlin appeared in the 1950s. Since the 1990s, the foxes have settled almost nationwide in the city.

It is important to keep the mixing of the living environments of wild animals and people as low as possible to avoid infections. People should therefore not feed foxes or other wild animals and make sure that they have no close contact with feces or contaminated food. This can reduce the risk of serious diseases, such as by the fox tapeworm.