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Peer-reviewedCC BYScientific Reports

Seasonal occurrence of gastrointestinal helminths in a feral horse population from a Mediterranean mountain ecosystem

  • Julia Torres1
  • José Enrique Granados2
  • Gregorio Mentaberre3
  • Jorge Ramón López-Olvera4
  • David Carmena5
  • Jesús M. Pérez6
  • María J. Fernández-Muñoz6
  • Gregorio Pérez-Cordón1
6 affiliations
  1. 1Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Granada
  2. 2Delegación Territorial de Sostenibilidad y Medio Ambiente en Granada
  3. 3Wildlife Ecology & Health Group (WE&H) and Departament de Ciència Animal, Universitat de Lleida (UdL)
  4. 4Wildlife Ecology & Health Research Group (WE&H) and Servei d’Ecopatologia de Fauna Salvatge (SEFaS), Departament de Medicina i Cirurgia Animals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB)
  5. 5Parasitology Reference and Research Laboratory, Spanish National Centre for Microbiology, Health Institute Carlos III
  6. 6Department of Animal and Plant Biology, and Ecology, Jaén University
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Abstract

Gastrointestinal helminth infections are widespread in free-ranging horses, but information on their seasonal occurrence in Mediterranean mountain ecosystems remains limited. We investigated gastrointestinal helminth occurrence in a feral horse population inhabiting the Sierra Nevada Natural Space, southern Spain, using faecal egg counts and molecular detection of Strongylus vulgaris. A total of 166 faecal samples were collected from 61 individually identified horses during four seasonal campaigns between spring 2024 and winter 2025. Strongylid infections were highly prevalent throughout the study, with sample-level prevalence ranging from 95.2 to 100%, while S. vulgaris was detected by PCR in 86.4–100% of faecal samples across seasons. In contrast, S. vulgaris PCR status was not significantly associated with faecal egg counts after accounting for season and repeated sampling. These findings provide a seasonal baseline for gastrointestinal helminth infections in an unmanaged feral horse population and highlight marked seasonal variation in strongylid egg shedding in a Mediterranean mountain ecosystem.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{torres2026seasonal,
  title = {{Seasonal occurrence of gastrointestinal helminths in a feral horse population from a Mediterranean mountain ecosystem}},
  author = {Julia Torres and José Enrique Granados and Gregorio Mentaberre and Jorge Ramón López-Olvera and David Carmena and Jesús M. Pérez and María J. Fernández-Muñoz and Gregorio Pérez-Cordón},
  journal = {Scientific Reports},
  year = {2026},
  month = sep,
  doi = {10.1038/s41598-026-69065-6},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-69065-6},
  note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Seasonal occurrence of gastrointestinal helminths in a feral horse population from a Mediterranean mountain ecosystem
AU  - Julia Torres
AU  - José Enrique Granados
AU  - Gregorio Mentaberre
AU  - Jorge Ramón López-Olvera
AU  - David Carmena
AU  - Jesús M. Pérez
AU  - María J. Fernández-Muñoz
AU  - Gregorio Pérez-Cordón
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/01
JO  - Scientific Reports
DO  - 10.1038/s41598-026-69065-6
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-69065-6
AB  - Gastrointestinal helminth infections are widespread in free-ranging horses, but information on their seasonal occurrence in Mediterranean mountain ecosystems remains limited. We investigated gastrointestinal helminth occurrence in a feral horse population inhabiting the Sierra Nevada Natural Space, southern Spain, using faecal egg counts and molecular detection of Strongylus vulgaris. A total of 166 faecal samples were collected from 61 individually identified horses during four seasonal campaigns between spring 2024 and winter 2025. Strongylid infections were highly prevalent throughout the study, with sample-level prevalence ranging from 95.2 to 100%, while S. vulgaris was detected by PCR in 86.4–100% of faecal samples across seasons. In contrast, S. vulgaris PCR status was not significantly associated with faecal egg counts after accounting for season and repeated sampling. These findings provide a seasonal baseline for gastrointestinal helminth infections in an unmanaged feral horse population and highlight marked seasonal variation in strongylid egg shedding in a Mediterranean mountain ecosystem.
SN  - 2045-2322
ER  -