With the wealth of animals existing on our earth, the rise of diseases and infections is becoming a common occurrence. A disease is any impairment that interferes with or modifies the performance of normal function. Diseases however can be infectious or non-infectious depending on whether the influence of the disease arises from living organisms or other risk factors. Major modern diseases that arise in animals are known as Zoonoses, these diseases can be caused by many different factors and forms of pathogens such as viruses, bacteria, fungi and parasites (Chomel et al., 2007).
One afternoon while playing a game of Sudoku our outbreak investigation team, 423 Hotshots, received a tweet from @FOXwatch2015 about a potential die off of foxes near the university. The informant indicated there were a couple of dead foxes near his barn which was unusual. My colleagues and I decided to hear him out and inquire more about this situation. We determined that due to the rare circumstances of dead foxes this was quite odd. Packing up our equipment and resources 423 Hotshots headed out and accepted this mission to prevent the potential die off of foxes. Upon arriving we determined there were two species involved, the red fox Vuples vuples and the rare Cranbrook fox Vuples youenbeeceesis. Arriving in Prince George we set up camp at the University of Northern British Columbia where we had all the equipment and resources to have a successful investigation. We contacted one of our contacts who is a biologist in the region and we were given a brief idea of the area and fox ecology.
The red fox, Vulpes vulpes is the largest of the true foxes, and one of the most abundant members of the order Carnivora. The spatial distribution of red foxes is seen on multiple continents but they tend to be found mostly in the northern hemisphere. They tend to be found in pairs or small groups/families. Red foxes are omnivorous and feed on small rodents primarily, rabbits, game birds, reptiles and invertebrates.