Wolf

WOLF, Canis lupus L., a predatory mammal of the dog family (Canidae). Wolves can contract rabies and transmit this disease to domestic animals. The wolf is also a host for the tapeworm form of Echinococcus; by contaminating pastures with the eggs of this parasite, it contributes to the infection of cattle with echinococcosis. In southeastern Asia, wolves are infected with the lung fluke Paragonimus. Among other parasites found in wolves are: the giant kidney worm, Dioctophyme renale (in the renal pelvis); the brain tapeworm—Taenia coenurus (in the intestine); the bladder form—Coenurus cerebralis—which parasitizes the brains of sheep, causing them to turn (gyrosis) (one case of human brain infection by this parasite is known); and the adult pentastome—Linguatula serrata (in the nasal cavity). In the past, a severe form of scabies called "Norwegian" was without sufficient basis attributed to the scabies mite—Sarcoptes lupi, however, the specific independence of which is denied.