How to treat toxoplasmosis in foxes

1. Clinical symptoms

Loss of appetite, difficulty breathing, mucous discharge from the eyes and nose, diarrhea, and blood in the feces. Paralysis of the limbs and clonic muscle spasms. Body temperature rises to 41-42°C, with vomiting. Extreme excitement before death, followed by death after screaming. Symptoms are severe in young foxes, and the mortality rate of newborn fox cubs is high.

2. Treatment method

Sulfonamide drugs have a special therapeutic effect. Sulfadiazine at 70 mg per kg of body weight, administered orally 2 times per day, with the first dose doubled, for 3-5 consecutive days. Prevention of this disease should focus on preventing feed and drinking water from being contaminated by cat feces, not feeding raw meat, eggs, milk, etc., exterminating rats on the breeding farm, and eliminating the vectors that may transmit Toxoplasma gondii. Sick animals found should be treated immediately; animals that have recovered and those that test positive in serological examination should be culled promptly; dead carcasses and forcibly slaughtered carcasses should be burned or disinfected and buried deep. Disinfecting the soil surface can kill oocysts in the soil. Tools for pelt removal and capture should be boiled for disinfection, or rinsed with 0.5% ammonia water or 5% Lysol, and exposed to sunlight.