Epidemiology of cerebrospinal Elaphostrongylus cervi infection in red deer in central Spain.

Elaphostrongylus cervi produces a subclinical cerebrospinal disease in many wild and domestic ruminants from Europe, North America and New Zealand and has recently been described in Spain. To determine some aspects of its epidemiology, 121 red deer (Cervus elaphus) from central Spain were sampled during 2000. The prevalence (7%) and mean worm burden (3.8 worms per brain) were similar to the values previously recorded in other European areas. The infection was only detected in young deer during the winter. The estimation of larval production in the faeces was not a reliable method of diagnosing E. cervi infection.