Dead Fox No. 3 Update

 

An update on Fox no. 3 is that it is still undergoing tests but adenovirus is not present. Wildlife Network for Disease Surveillance (WNDS) are involved and the pathologist is doing a thorough job.

The foxes found were from different areas so there is no "local" link but the jaundice and cause thereof we might have known earlier since we lost almost 20 dead foxes when the authorities had absolutely no interest.

And I am not including reports of "dead foxes" where no exact location was given so that bodies could not be collected. Those were either hoaxes or people who really just did not care.

The work continues and my thanks go to Zoe and Emily who collect and transport the bodies around and Zoe who has put a few notes together to keep me on track (I'm dealing with reports of dead foxes almost every day as well as sick ones so I'm old and get confused!

The Case of the Missing Foxes

 Unfortunately, many days of work and possible new evidence in what might be causing foxes in Bristol to die (other than poison) has been lost.

About a month ago a veterinary practice diagnosed a fox collected by the Fox Study as having died from poison -this is what was called "first opinion" but the final diagnosis would be down to the pathologist after post mortem. The practice offered to keep the fox "on ice" until it could be collected for PM. It was marked "Do not remove".  Our collector went to fetch the fox and...someone had removed it and sent it for incineration.

There was nothing I could do and as vets are a monopoly in the City all I could do was contact the senior vet and explain that what could have been solid evidence in a wildlife crime was now gone and so were months of work. An apology was received but does me no good.

Eight days another seemingly health fox suddenly died. Possible signs of jaundice. On this occasion the waste management company offered to store the carcass and it was appropriately marked with location and "Do not remove" notice. 

It took seven days before post mortem was approved and our collector undertook the long journey and was handed a bagged up fox that "smelt disgusting" and so opened up the company bags to inspect it -the find it was full of maggots.  That is not a fox kept chilled -maggots to not burst out from a chilled body. Also, the fox did not look like the one in the in situ photograph (which is one reason I insist on such photos) and there was no "Do not remove" or even location notice and it was found 3 miles from where "our" fox was. It was useless for any type of examination. Apparently the waste company which stores all animals found dead on streets etc for disposal so has a big storage facility, has unscheduled people/companies arrive and it is assumed one of these removed the "Do not remove" fox.

I feel sorry for the unpaid volunteer collectors having to take time and long journeys after confirmation that a body can be collected only to find the body is gone. For me it means long, hard days of work and possible evidence are gone.

However, we have one jaundiced (not confirmed) looking fox being submitted today while awaiting the test results from other foxes. 

All of the Fox Study work is unpaid for -there are no grants or other financial support and that is why we have to rely on the often slow official post mortem services as a PM can cost up to £250 a time which means that our current expenditure would have been around £2000 and though I have funded research out of my own pocket since 1976 I do not have that kind of money!  Honestly, I cannot even stretch to a body storage freezer otherwise no carcasses would have vanished on us.

I almost forgot to include two healthy looking but dead foxes (dog and vixen) that were collected by the council which 'vanished'.

But you have to make do with what you have. The Red Paper: Canids was supposed to help fund further research through sales but that never happened.

And so we carry on and, sadly, await the next healthy fox that drops dead and the headache that comes with it because we need to find out what is going on and whether it can be stopped/treated and what we discover in the City and County of Bristol may well have far reaching results for the rest ofthe UK and the largest urban fox population next to Bristol in London.

Bristol Foxes No. 4 & 5 Post Mortem Results

 

One thing I do not like to do but it comes with the job (an unpaid job I ought to add) is reading through the post mortem reports on foxes submitted after being found under unusual or suspicious circumstances. This includes going over the photographs to understand what the pathologist is describing.

 

Although PM Services can be a pain to get responses from the vet carrying out all of the post mortems has been very thorough and answered any questions I have asked. It may be his job but he deserves thanks for the work put in.

 

I have omitted a lot of the technical jargon and just present the summary and conclusion. With fox no. 5 it is assumed what the cause of death was and is nothing unusual. With a third fox submitted with (apparent) jaundice it will be interesting to see what conclusions come from that one.

 

Date Received 03/09/21

Date Necropsy 09/09/21

Species Red Fox

(Vulpes vulpes)

Age Juvenile

Sample Carcase X 1

 

Clinical History:

There have been reports of numbers of dead foxes being found in the Bristol area. It

is suggested that they may have been deliberately killed with some possibly

poisoned but disease has not been ruled out. Natural England were informed but

they have declined to investigate at present. This fox is from Shirehampton, and was

seen to be okay the night before but collapsed next day (02-09-21) and died soon

after (#48538).

 

Specimen Details:

Bristol fox no. 4  Female Mild/moderate frozen

 

Comment:

There was no evidence of trauma or anything obvious that might suggest poisoning.

There also was no evidence of bacterial septicaemia. The jaundice is obviously

significant and two of the three foxes that were suitable for examination were

jaundiced. Were these foxes from the same area? The E/M and histology samples

from the previous case (WNDS 05-08-21) are still being processed. The results from

them may be an indication of the cause of disease in this fox

 

 

Date Received 03/09/21

Date Necropsy 09/09/21

Species Red Fox

(Vulpes vulpes)

Age Adult

Sample Carcase X 1

 

Clinical History:

There have been reports of numbers of dead foxes being found in the Bristol area. It

is suggested that they may have been deliberately killed with some possibly

poisoned but disease has not been ruled out. Natural England was informed but they

have declined to investigate at present. This fox was from Arnos Vale Cemetery and

was taken to local PVS as had nervous signs and was pts.

Specimen Details:

 

Dead/Frozen

Bristol fox no. 5 Male

 

Comment:

These findings could indicate two possible causes for the clinical signs seen in this

fox.

 

Trauma;

This fox was possibly hit by a car resulting in internal haemorrhage and bleeding

from the left ear and grossly unrecognisable brain damage. It didn’t die but was

unable to find food due to its clinical condition before being seen and pts by a local

vet.

 

Bacterial Menigitis;

The excess bloody fluid in thoracic and abdominal cavities and gross evidence of

liver damage may be PM artefacts. There were no significant bacterial findings from

systemic sites. However Streptococcus canis was isolated from the brain stem. This

can be a normal gut commensal but it has been isolated from cases of otitis externa

and from meningitis in dogs. Therefore tracking from the external part of the ear to

the brain may have occurred, however there was no gross evidence of inner ear

infection. As Streptococcus canis can be a normal commensal bacteria its isolation

may just represent post mortem contamination especially as it was not isolated in

purity and profusion.

 

Brain histopathology providing there isn’t too much freeze/thaw changes will

hopefully indicate the likely diagnosis. However I would suspect that, unfortunately

this another case of trauma probably RTA. There were no findings suggestive of

poisoning.

 

 

If A Virus Breaks Out Amongst Domestic Pets -Remember The Correct Authorities WERE Informed And Updated Since Day 1

 Post Mortem Services has failed to respond to the Submission form on the fox found dead last week and which has been in cold storage now for 7 days -and the longer a carcass is kept the more it deteriorates for testing.

PM Services is fully informed and aware of the number of foxes that have dies since June. Most of those were lost evidence as they and other bodies would not carry out PM examinations. They are aware of the jaundice. In fact they are regularly updated and so many fox deaths should be of concern to them -especially if canine adenovirus.

I am fully aware of protocols and I am fully aware that with such a number of animal deaths this should be speeded up somewhat. I am not sure if they are hoping that this will make me stop being a pest or not but there appears to be no concern on their part and Bristol City Council washed their hands of the matter a month ago.

As of tomorrow I may have to ask the persons currently holding the fox to dispose of it and potential evidence.

Sick or Dead Fox Advisory Notice

 Currently we have the 4th and 5th foxes ready for post mortem examination. These are healthy looking young foxes that suddenly died. Other foxes were a little too far gone to find anything in. However,  two out of three foxes exhibited jaundice and the odds there are pretty high against 2 out of 3 having this.

Today a third fox was found dead -death being sudden- despite initially looking healthy. It isexhabiting a jaundiced (yellow) tongue but until a post mortem we cannot say this positively as we need the evidence. 

This brings the total number of foxes that died suddenly or "suspiciously" in Bristol since June 2021 to over thirty (30). A number of settled fox groups have also vanished but without carcasses we cannot include those. As no one has bothered keeping records of fox deaths or causes before the Fox Study is pioneering this investigation albeit fighting to get each fox examined.

The initial fear was poisoning, however, as none of those foxes was examined it is possible that they may -in some cases not all- have have been victims of disease. Excluded are cases where 2-4 foxes all die at the same time as that indicates non-disease (poisoning).  The other concern was, obviously, disease and canine adenovirus in particular.

Adenovirus 1 in dogs is a virus that causes respiratory infections, targets multiple organs in the body, and causes infectious canine hepatitis (ICH) — a disease that severely affects the liver and can be fatal in as many as 30 percent of the dogs who suffer from it.

Canine adenovirus type 2 (CAV-2) is related to the hepatitis virus, canine adenovirus type 1 (CAV-1). CAV-2 is used in vaccines to provide protection against canine infectious hepatitis. CAV-2 is also one of the causes of infectious tracheobronchitis, also known as canine cough.

Adenovirus has been found in British mustelids and has turned up a lot in UK foxes as a couple of fox rescues have now advised that they have had cases. The concern is that this may be a virulent form but there is absolutely no evidence of this so far and an advisory message was sent of to rescues and charities as a "heads up" and a suggestion that iff any sick foxes are taken in and examined by a vet they should check for jaundice.

Again, this is precautionary and once other foxes have been examined we may find another cause.

Bristol Fox deaths and the Current Situation -update

 Sorry for the long post but I have been asked about this so its easier to inform everyone.

This has never been done in the UK before. Foxes found dead have been used to concentrate on one narrow band of research such as how many are of European fox origin. But a dead fox is usually "just a dead fox". "It's dead. Adead fox"

My whole life (even as a child I am told) I have asked questions and looked at things for explanation.At school I finally got a hold of microscopes and other paraphenalia that allowed me to follow up projects. Even today I see a dead pigeon in the street I check it out to see what killed it. I cannot help it. It causes a lot of laughter but even "there's animal poo in the back garden" will get me up to go check it out and identify whether fox, cat, hedgehog.

I've spent since 1976 looking at foxes and their history, lives and habitats. I know a lot die due to cars, hunting and even pesticides (my book The Red Paper: Canids goes into statistics etc). But when someone says "A fox cub that was perfectly healthy yesterday is dead in my garden" I get asked what might have killed it? When on that same day that the question is asked, and in a neighbouring area, another cub is found dead in a garden a kind of obsessive compulsive disorder kicks in and I cannot stop until I get the answer.

Some cases I have looked into, including historical, have taken 25 or 30 years to solve. It takes a lot of research with dead end after dead end and then a couple of words that head off into another direction and then things fall into place. But you have to be tenacious or...me :-)

When I then hear of four foxes found dead I sit up. Then anothergroupof foxes found dead or fox numbers suddenly dropping I really have no way out! People say a fox died as though poisoned. Well, it might be that is true though it could also be a sign of injury (internal) or disease. I have no doubt that in a number of Bristol caes poison is involved, however, what I believe is NOT fact. Evidence is needed.

Looking at the number of unusual fox deaths reported to me -I exclude those where no exact location is given or a photograph toshow the dead animal and after reporting a dead fox the person wants no involvement- we are looking at almost thirty foxes since end of June. I have a list of road kill foxes which are seperate and I cannot include the reported sudden drop in fox populations because there needs to be evidence -a body or bodies. That no foxes have been reported killed by cars in these areas indicates that is no solution.

Most people will contact the City Council who will collect and dispose of the bodies. Today I was lucky enough to have the latest fox found dead found and it is currently on hold for pick up (this is the latest in a number of foxes found dead in the area -poison or disease?).

We have no idea just how many perfectly healthy looking foxes have suddenly died. Bristol wildlife groups have been alerted to contact me first if such a fox is found so it can be assessed and possibly collected for post mortem. However, only a certain number of areas have resulted in reports (see map) so are foxes only dying in those areas?

It took months of working day and night and arguing with bureaucracy to finally get foxes submitted for post mortems. Sadly, all the early (fresh dead) foxes were lost to us. Another fox that staggered into a garden and died was submitted to a vet and poisoning was thought likely. Post Mortem services were willing to look at this fox and it was held in the vets freezer to keep it fresh. Someone broke protocol and that fox was disposed of and we only learnt this when someone went to collect it. It is no exaggeration that this news was a massive kick in the teeth and everything was organised and ready to go.

Deep breath and start again.

Although three recent fox deaths have not been the result of poisoning something else has been revealed. It is not something I want to jump into here because we are still awaiting further tests but it might indicate a fox health problem. Early days and we need that evidence first.

This is why it is so important that as many fox feeders or fox watchers in the City and County of Bristol are aware of the project. It is very sad to write it but the more foxes that are found the better picture we can get. Poisoning then we can report on it and try to get action taken. A disease then it is something we need to look into and alert people so they know how to treat it.

How much private time have I had since July? None. I plan on taking a day off or half a day and...."I have a sick looking fox" or "I have a fox with an injury" or "There is a dead fox in the garden". I tend to work until around 0200hrs daily. It is depressing at times :-)

I would like to thank Emily and Zoe who are the official fox body collectors and the efforts they go to. It would be nice to have a couple more collectors but volunteers to drive around and collect dead foxes for nothing are pretty rare!

Progress is being made but we need to gather far more evidence and there is nowhere else in the UK doing this. The lack of cooperation from fox and other rescues has forced me to make this a geographically isolated project but in a way that may help because if we can make discoveries here then they can apply nationally.

Pretty soon I am going to need to try to sit back and formulate a plan for 2022.

For now it is Friday and 2120 hours and I really need a break from thestress but I felt it important to at least offer some update.

THANK YOU to everyone whpo has helped out.