Importance of free living mustelid carnivores in circulation of adiaspiromycosis

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Abstract
The study of adiaspiromycosis in 8 species of free living mustelid carnivores (266 specimens) revealed the average intensity of infection to be 41.4%. The highest incidence rate was found in the exoanthropic species Putorius eversmanni (73.1 %) and Martes martes (72.2%) while the lowest was observed in the hemisynanthropic species Putorius putorius (30.6%). The stone marten (Martes foina) is a new, still unknown reservoir host of C. parvum var. crescens, C. parvum for which Putorius eversmanni and Mustela nivalis are new hosts, was also demonstrated in 3 cases. In the present paper, the role of mustelid carnivores in natural foci of adiaspiromycosis is discussed and evaluated. The importance of these predators in the circulation of C. parvum var. crescens is relatively wide. They make possible the liberation of adiaspores from the lungs of their prey — primarily small mammals — into the environment and participate in the spread of infection in both the horizontal and vertical directions. They play a part in the process of distributing of the organism to the vicinity of human dwellings, in the development of new elementary foci, and also act as important reservoir hosts of C. parvum var. crescens.