'ICH' In Foxes, Post Mortem Refusals and Rescues Potential Biohazards

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I have to say that my estimate of the fox population decline was wrong. It is in fact worse than I thought  and the problem is the population is now on a very sharp decline.

 Just looking at the number of fox cub deaths around the country being reported (whatever cause) if you statistically multiply (conservatively) the ones we know about then that is a massive loss of new generation foxes on top of the 65,000+ foxes killed on the roads and who knows how many by hunting psychopaths -I am past being polite because foxes under law can only be "dealt with" if a threat to livestock and even the hunts of the 18th-20th centuries laughed that one off.  A fox crossing a field is not a threat to anything and could be a lactating vixen -which means a slow death for cubs.  They do not care so long as they get their 'fun'.

The fact that rescues just say "we expect it this time of year" is moronic. Again, I have given up being polite because I do not give a damn about egos or people liking me we are talking about another species heading toward extinction if this continues.  If a cub looks perfectly healthy then those dealing with fox health, treatment and recovery should be trying to find out what is going on.

Why are the cubs dying -and I suspect that it is far more than just being "overburdened with worms". Not only are the anti fox faction killing foxes off but the supposed pro fox faction are helping by ignoring continuing deaths and not bothering to even try finding out because "we know it all" -seriously that has been the response from the same "experts" who told me that all fox deaths were road traffic incidents or "endemic adenovirus in British foxes".  Well, we are near 70 foxes having undergone or about to undergo post mortem examination by a top pathologist and guess what? Even he was surprised that we have not had a single adenovirus case. But rescues, who can never quite remember where they got the 'fact' from, swear that is the cause of all non RTA fox deaths.

I was dismissed rather quickly by one rescue/vet as the recent spate of cases they see similar to (they say) every year and they dismiss them as ICH  (Infectious Canine Hepatitis or CAV-1):  Clinical signs include: anorexia, rhinitis, haemorrhagic diarrhoea, jaundice, hyperexcitability, seizures, paralysis, coma and death. The prognosis of a fox showing clinical signs of ICH is guarded, and even if recovery occurs, there can be continued urinary excretion of the virus for up to six months after infection. 

The problem is why there are no vixens who have mothered these cubs dying of ICH. And then there is the problem that out of four cubs only one suffers the seizure, jaundice and nasal discharge followed by its system shutting down -the other cubs in its den continue on with no problems. In case you wonder what ICH is:

"Hepatitis is defined as inflammation of the liver. As a specific disease, infectious canine hepatitis (ICH) is a viral infection caused by a member of the adenovirus family."

-Malcolm Weir, DVM, MSc, MPH; Tammy Hunter, DVM; Ernest Ward, DVM writing on VCA Animal Hospitals, 2023

When we submit a dead fox or fox whose symptoms  cannot be explained by a vet we do not say the cause is one thing or another. For instance we have had ten vets who declared foxes to be victims of poisoning -no testing just off the top of their heads. None of those 'poisoned' foxes was in fact poisoned. We can privately discuss possibilities but in such conversations I make it very -very- clear that it is speculation. Only one thing counts and that is the evidence found during/after a post mortem. 

Rescues and vets working with them need to understand that all fox deaths -cubs or adults- if not clearly exhibiting signs of RTA should be investigated. Last night (21st) I was informed of another cub found dead in a garden but last week so that one cannot be submitted. In all my years of fox research I expect to hear of young cubs dying as that is down to a number of factors, however, in the space of a month the number of cubs having seizures, nasal discharge, jaundice and with their systems shutting down has been concerning.

I have checked all of the old 'sport' and natural history on foxes and worm burden and mange are all that can be found but even worm burden is rarely mentioned as no one carried out post mortems on foxes!

All of the foxes in the UK today -and in Ireland as a whole- were imported by hunts to continue the 'sport' and that probably started in the 17th century when foxes became scarce. We have seen several near extinctions since the 1860s (when the Old British foxes died out) and there is clear evidence that hunts doctored figures to make it seem that there were more foxes than there were (even a couple of pro hunt writers in the 1960s noted this). It is likely that the decline in modern times started in the 1960s and became really noticeable in the 1990s when I was told by game keepers and country shooters that in some areas they had not seen a fox "in a very long time" and now pro hunt people are stating that this decline is down to foxes not being 'controlled' (do not try to work that out logically as it will only give you a headache).  Hunts knew and it was stated in journals, books and letters of the early 19th century that the Old foxes were going extinct but they still hunted until the foxes were.

The lie, readily accepted by everyone it seems, is that during covid lockdown in the UK wildlife numbers increased.  They did not it was merely that people stuck in one place saw more of the local wildlife than they normally would do.  People were still going out and killing foxes, deer, etc. including as a group -but in the countryside who was going to see to report? 

When the British Trust for Ornithology did its mammal survey and suggested putting foxes on the Red (Endangered) List they were spot on. 

There is another problem with rescues that needs to be addressed.  Firstly, I know of two rescues that have had cubs having seizures, jaundice, etc., etc., but will not submit those foxes for post mortem. Their thinking makes no sense since what can be found out about the fox death might help save or treat others in the future.  Three dead cubs and a polite request for them to submit the cubs for PM -totally ignored. Not even willing to discuss the matter. If you claim to be there to rescue and treat sick and injured foxes then you have to also look at why some die.

Secondly, the two rescues will go out to0 collect reported dead foxes to take them back to the rescues and bury them there.  The actual possible biohazard in doing this when you have no idea how o0r why a fox died is high.  You may well have buried a fox with a highly infectious (to other foxes) illness and that is now in the soil.  In countries where rescues are regulated and not "kitchen sink" efforts such a thing would be illegal.

Some rescues are burying potential infected foxes when those foxes could alert us to a health threat and help us advise people how to proceed.

Some vets associated with rescue are arrogantly blind to throw out a blase explanation for some fox deaths and by, again, refusing to submit foxes for post mortem examination "unless we decide to do so".

Rescues do some incredible work but there is no such thing as a set standard and I have even found one that took in any and all wildlife (including a very sick fox cub that needed to see a vet but whether it did we have no idea) but was a true "kitchen sink" rescue in a house and no real isolation areas.

We need to forget petty ego issues and to concentrate on the most important thing in all of this; the wildlife involved.

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