Francis Raoul

• PhD
• Professor at University of Franche-Comté

Angiostrongylus cantonensis, commonly known as the rat lungworm, causes Eosinophilic meningitis in humans. Our study aimed to investigate the prevalence and distribution of this parasite in rats in Haiti. Rats were trapped at 8 sites, 7 in Artibonite (rural region) and one in an urban area of Port-au-Prince. After euthanasia, hearts and lungs were...

Small mammal species play an important role influencing vegetation primary productivity and plant species composition, seed dispersal, soil structure, and as predator and/or prey species. Species which experience population dynamics cycles can, at high population phases, heavily impact agricultural sectors and promote rodent-borne disease transmiss...

Cadmium and Pb are known to enhance immune cell damages and to decrease cellular immunity, promoting higher susceptibility to infectious diseases. Selenium is an essential element involved in immunity and reactive oxygen species scavenging. This study aimed at evaluating how Cd and Pb and low nutritional (Se) quality modulate immune response to a b...

Blood circulates through the vascular system to carry oxygen, nutrients and metabolites to and away from tissues, and as such is a key-component of animal physiology. The impacts of metal pollution on blood, however, are poorly documented in free-ranging vertebrates. While the counteracting effect of selenium on mercury toxicity is well known in ma...

Knowledge gaps regarding the potential role of pesticides in the loss of agricultural biodiversity worldwide and mixture-related issues hamper proper risk assessment of unintentional impacts of pesticides, rendering essential the monitoring of wildlife exposure to these compounds. Free-ranging mammal exposure to legacy (Banned and Restricted: BRPs)...

Pollution with trace metals (TM) has been shown to affect diversity and/or composition of plant and animal communities. While ecotoxicological studies have estimated the impact of TM contamination on plant and animal communities separately, ecological studies have widely demonstrated that vegetation is an important factor shaping invertebrate commu...

Pollution with trace metals (TM) has been shown to affect diversity and/or composition of plant and animal communities. While ecotoxicological studies have estimated the impact of TM contamination on plant and animal communities separately, ecological studies have widely demonstrated that vegetation is an important factor shaping invertebrate commu...

Assessing the genetic diversity of the parasite Echinococcus multilocularis provides key information about the temporal and spatial strain flow in a given area. Previous studies indicated that a historical endemic area conventionally presents a relatively high genetic diversity, whereas peripheral or newly endemic areas exhibit a more restricted va...

The eggs of Echinococcus multilocularis, the infectious stage, are spread into the environment through wild and domestic carnivore faeces. The spatial location of the faeces containing infective E. multilocularis eggs is a key parameter for studying areas of exposure and understanding the transmission processes to the intermediate hosts and humans....

Background: Bacterial meningitis remains a major threat for the population of the meningitis belt. Between 2004 and 2009, in the countries of this belt, more than 200,000 people were infected with a 10% mortality rate. However, for almost 20 years, important meningitis epidemics are also reported outside this belt. Research is still very poorly de...

Exposure of terrestrial mammals to chemical contaminants like trace metals (TMs) is considered to be mainly based on trophic transfer. Although relationships between TM transfer to animals and identity of contaminated food have been studied, the variation of the TM transfer with respect to diet diversity has been poorly documented. In this study, t...

In wildlife ecotoxicology, the rationale for using blood rather than other body fluids or tissues is that sampling blood is a minimally invasive technique without animal mortality, providing both ethical and scientific benefits. To date, few studies are available on the relationships between blood and organ metal concentrations of small mammals liv...

Mammals are mainly exposed to trace metals via consuming contaminated food. Several studies have demonstrated relationships between metal concentrations in food and in animal tissues. However, potential effects of trace metals on feeding behaviour of wildlife have been poorly documented under field conditions, despite experimental evidence showing...

In zoonotic infections, the relationships between animals and humans lead to parasitic disease with severity that ranges from mild symptoms to life-threatening conditions. In cities and their surrounding areas, this statement is truer with the overcrowding of the protagonists of the parasites' life cycle. The present study aims to investigate the d...

Background: The eastern part of the Tibetan Plateau is now recognized as an endemic region with the highest reported human infection rates in the world of human alveolar echinococcosis (AE) caused by Echinococcus multilocularis. Existing epidemiological studies on AE have mainly focused on the synanthropic environment, while basic parasitological...

The new recent genus and species of three-toed jerboas (Rodentia: Dipodinae), from southern Ningxia, China, is described. This form demonstrated a unique mixture of external, cranial, and dental characters that individually are typical for one or another of all known genera of Dipodinae. Based on morphological characters, it is recovered as the par...

Evolution and dispersion history on Earth of organisms can best be studied through biological markers in molecular epidemiological studies. The biological diversity of the cestode Echinococcus multilocularis was investigated in different cladistic approaches. First the morphological aspects were explored in connection with its ecology. More recentl...

EmsB guidelines. Description of the EmsB microsatellite and guide to perform the analysis without the EWET website application. (PDF)

With the ongoing spread of Echinococcus multilocularis in Europe, sanitary authorities are looking for the most efficient ways of reducing the risk for human populations. Fox culling is one particular tool that has recently shifted from predation control to population health management. Our study aims to assess the effectiveness of this tool in lim...

Palm oil is nowadays the first vegetable oil consumed worldwide. Given the world population growth and the increasing demand in fat for food and fuel, the increase in oil palm production is expected to continue. It is thus important to find ways of reducing the ecological impact of oil palm plantations at both the agroecosystem and the mill supply...

Alveolar echinococcosis is considered to be the most serious zoonosis in the Northern Hemisphere’s cold or temperate regions. In Europe, the parasite has a sylvatic life cycle based on predator–prey interactions, mainly between red foxes and small rodents. Echinococcus multilocularis has been observed to have spread across Europe over the last thre...

The ability for a generalist consumer to adapt its foraging strategy (the multi-species functional response, MSFR) is a milestone in ecology as it contributes to the structure of food webs. The trophic interaction between a generalist predator, as the red fox or the barn owl, and its prey community, mainly composed of small mammals, has been em...

Small carnivores contribute to rat control in oil palm plantations

Spatial distribution of small carnivores within oil palm plantations

The life cycle of the cestode Echinococcus multilocularis primarily involves canids and small mammals (rodents, lagomorphs) as definitive and intermediate hosts, respectively. Several surveys have identified marked temporal and geographical variations at different scales in the parasite's prevalence in both types of hosts, suggesting variations in...

Human alveolar echinococcosis (AE) is a severe hepatic disease caused by Echinococcus multilocularis. In France, the definitive and intermediate hosts of E. multilocularis (foxes and rodents, respectively) have a broader geographical distribution than that of human AE. In this two-part study, we describe the link between AE incidence in France betw...

Alveolar echinococcosis (AE) is an endemic zoonosis in France due to the cestode Echinococcus multilocularis. The French National Reference Centre for Alveolar Echinococcosis (CNR-EA), connected to the FrancEchino network, is responsible for recording all AE cases diagnosed in France. Administrative, epidemiological and medical information on the F...

The oncosphere stage of Echinococcus multilocularis in red fox stools can lead, after inges-tion, to the development of alveolar echinococcosis in the intermediate hosts, commonly small mammals and occasionally humans. Monitoring animal infection and environmental contamination is a key issue in public health surveillance. We developed a quantitati...

Alveolar echinococcosis, caused by the cestode Echinococcus multilocularis, is the most serious parasitic disease for humans in Europe, with a sylvatic life cycle generally between small rodents and red foxes. General expansion of the range of E. multilocularis has been observed across Europe over the last fifteen years. In France, a westward sprea...

For sustainable oil palm production, barn owl (Tyto alba) predation should be enhanced and monitored to better understand its impact on rodent population dynamics, notably for selective predation based on age or size. Our aim was to assess the best combination of osteometric variables that predict eye lens weight and thus the relative age of an ind...

Trace metals (TMs) are naturally present in the environment, however, soils can exhibit high levels of these persistent pollutants due to anthropogenic activities, and such contamination is recognised as a subject of concern for both organism and ecosystem health [1], [2]. Assessment of the environmental and ecological factors that may influence th...

The oncosphere stage of Echinococcus multilocularis in red fox stools can lead, after ingestion, to the development of alveolar echinococcosis in the intermediate hosts, commonly small mammals and occasionally humans. Monitoring animal infection and environmental contamination is a key issue in public health surveillance. We developed a quantitativ...

Pest control is a global issue for agriculture, health, biodiversity conservation and economy. Anticoagulant rodenticides are used over large areas to control rodent pests and can cause widespread poisoning of nontarget wildlife. In F rance, bromadiolone is the only pesticide authorized to control the water vole A rvicola terrestris S cherman, in g...

SUMMARY Human cysticercosis, caused by accidental ingestion of eggs of Taenia solium, is one of the most pathogenic helminthiases and is listed among the 17 WHO Neglected Tropical Diseases. Controlling the life-cycle of T. solium between humans and pigs is essential for eradication of cysticercosis. One difficulty for the accurate detection and ide...

SUMMARY Recent changes in the epidemiology of alveolar echinococcosis (AE) in Eurasia have led to increasing concerns about the risk of human AE and the need for a thorough evaluation of the epidemiological situation. The aim of this study was to explore the use of a National Register to detect complex distribution patterns on several scales. The d...

SUMMARY Detection of taeniasis carriers of Taenia solium is essential for control of cysticercosis in humans and pigs. In the current study, we assessed the positive detection rate of a self-detection tool, stool microscopy with direct smear and coproPCR for taeniasis carriers in endemic Tibetan areas of northwest Sichuan. The self-detection tool t...

Il est maintenant établi que les changements anthropiques d'utilisation des terres (déforestation, irrigation, agriculture ...), les modifications de la biodiversité et les changements climatiques sont autant de facteurs qui, seuls ou en combinaison, sont à la base de modifications de l'équilibre des écosystèmes qui peuvent contrôler l'émergence de...

SUMMARY From continental to regional scales, the zoonosis alveolar echinococcosis (AE) (caused by Echinococcus multilocularis) forms discrete patches of endemicity within which transmission hotspots of much larger prevalence may occur. Since the late 80s, a number of hotspots have been identified in continental Asia, mostly in China, wherein the ec...

A 43-year-old Tibetan woman living in northwest Sichuan, China, confirmed to be a taeniasis carrier of Taenia solium was treated with pumpkin seeds combined with Areca nut extract in October 2009. All 20 tapeworms except one without scolex were expelled under good conditions. She was free of secondary cysticercosis within one year follow up. Althou...

Wildlife is considered to be mainly exposed to environmental contaminants via oral route. Food web analysis is therefore crucial in environmental risk assessment and management. In this context, diet information is commonly obtained from literature and little attention has been given to site-specific considerations (habitat, season…), which might c...

Rainfall statistics (logarithm) in continental China (in a 100 km radius buffer) and human alveolar echinococcosis distribution (red lines). (TIF)

Average temperature in continental China (in a 100 km radius buffer) and human alveolar echinococcosis distribution (red lines). (TIF)

Land cover in continental China (ratio of total land in a 100 km radius buffer) according to GLOBAL land cover 2000 nomenclature and human alveolar echinococcosis distribution (red lines). V1, needleleaved deciduoud forest; V2, needleleaved evergreen forest; V3, broadleaved evergreen forest; V4, broadleaved deciduoud forest; V5, bush; V6, sparse wo...

Model comparison with deviance information criterion. Spatial and random effects are depicted by spatial and pixel respectively. Tibetan, Female, Herdpeople are factors coded 0/1; ratio meadows and ratio forests are the ratio of Alpine meadows and of forest to total land within a 100 km radius buffer. P-spline term was added on age, altitude, rainf...

Altitude statistics in continental China (in a 100 km radius buffer) and human alveolar echinococcosis distribution (red lines). (TIF)

Background: Human alveolar echinococcocosis (AE) is a highly pathogenic zoonotic disease caused by the larval stage of the cestode E. multilocularis. Its life-cycle includes more than 40 species of small mammal intermediate hosts. Therefore, host biodiversity losses could be expected to alter transmission. Climate may also have possible impacts on...

Westward spread of Echinococcus multilocularisin foxes in France. From 2005 to 2011, fox (Vulpes vulpes) infection by the parasite Echinococcus multilocularis (Em) was investigated in 44 French departments. Geographic expansion and increased prevalence have been evidenced. Em is now located over a large area including the western part of France. It...

During 2005-2010, we investigated Echinococcus multilocularis infection within fox populations in a large area in France. The parasite is much more widely distributed than hitherto thought, spreading west, with a much higher prevalence than previously reported. The parasite also is present in the large conurbation of Paris.

In France, the monitoring of human alveolar echinococcosis (AE) is organized by the FrancEchino network, and fox infection surveillance mostly by the Entente de Lutte Interdépartementale contre les Zoonoses (ELIZ). A retrospective analysis of the patient data (1982-2011) indicates that the disease occurs in nested spatial clusters, the geographical...

The lesser horseshoe bat, Rhinolophus hipposideros, was formerly widespread in north-western Europe, but has undergone a dramatic decline from the 1960s. Ecological disturbances, largely due to human intervention, have been related to this decline. Habitat loss and environmental contamination by chemical substances are regularly cited as being the...

Taeniasis refers to the infection with adult tapeworms of Taenia spp. in the upper small intestine of humans, which is also a cause of cysticercosis infection in either both humans and/or animals. Currently the most commonly applied anthelminthics for treatment of taeniasis are praziquantel and niclosamide. Praziquantel is very effective, but has t...

In this study, we applied a loop-mediated isothermal amplification method for identification of human Taenia tapeworms in Tibetan communities in Sichuan, China. Out of 51 proglottids recovered from 35 carriers, 9, 1, and 41 samples were identified as Taenia solium, Taenia asiatica and Taenia saginata, respectively. Same results were obtained afterw...

Arsenic (As) is a chemical element naturally occurring in soils but industrial and mining activities have long been releasing high As levels into the environment. These elevated concentrations might affect directly exposed organisms and also organisms that feed on them along the food chain. Despite this, little is known about As behaviour in the en...

Small mammals such as the European rabbits, the plateau pikas, the prairie dogs have been traditionally perceived as pests and targeted for control on a large scale despite their importance as key-stone species in their native ecosystem. This is also the case for the fossorial form of the water vole (Arvicola terrestris). This species can reach lar...

Knowing the network of interactions between organisms is essential to understand ecosystem functioning. In particular, documenting food web structure allows to understand transfers of energy and matters. Among them, many pollutants, especially metallic trace elements, are transferred via food between organisms. Diet of animals and its spatial and t...

The channelizing of the minor bed of the Drugeon river and the drainage of adjacent marshes were carried out from 1961 to 1973 in the hope of gaining 2000 ha of farmland. Those works led to important damage to the wetlands of the Drugeon basin, a Ramsar site since 2003, under the protection of several national and European laws since 1992. Actually...

Restoration of the Drugeon River and adjacent wetlands (northeastern France): impact on breeding birds. The channelizing of the minor bed of the Drugeon river and the drainage of adjacent marshes were carried out from 1961 to 1973 in the hope of gaining 2000 ha of farmland. Those works led to important damage to the wetlands of the Drugeon basin, a...

In France, human AE cases are systematically recorded since the end of the 70s and are managed at the Besançon University Hospital in the FranceEchino National register since 2003. This allowed a retrospective analysis of a subset of 245 patients diagnosed in the region of Franche-Comté and the surrounding departments (French administrative divisio...

On the Eastern Tibetan Plateau region (Sichuan province, China) dogs are regarded as important definitive hosts of Echinococcus multilocularis. We studied dog spatial behaviour in 4 Tibetan villages in order to determine the role of dogs in environmental contamination and their potential interactions with small mammal intermediate hosts. We identif...

Since the first 2 cases observed in southern Germany and the correct identification of a parasite at the origin of the disease by the famous scientist Rudolf Virchow in 1855, the borders of the endemic area of alveolar echinococcosis (AE) have never stopped to expand. The parasite was successively recognized in Switzerland, then in Russia, Austria...

Prediction of trace metal (Cd, Pb, Zn) concentrations in topsoils of Metaleurop-impacted area. (DOC)

Empirical omnidirectional variograms with variographic envelopes and retained fitted models for Cd, Pb and Zn. (TIF)

Total concentrations of trace metals in soils from Metaleurop-impacted area, according to soil use type. (DOC)

Parameters of the fitted variogram models, results of cross-validation and median variance of kriged values. (DOC)

Concepts and developments for a new field in ecotoxicology, referred to as "landscape ecotoxicology," were proposed in the 1990s; however, to date, few studies have been developed in this emergent field. In fact, there is a strong interest in developing this area, both for renewing the concepts and tools used in ecotoxicology as well as for respond...

Aim The Llanos de Ojuelos in Mexico’s Central High Plateau supports unique Opuntia scrublands and the southernmost Chihuahuan grasslands. Although human activities have modified strongly its landscape and impacted its biodiversity at an unknown scale, such impacts are poorly known. We aimed at understanding how nocturnal rodent species distributed...

ln Europe, most cities are currently colonized by red foxes. (Vulpes vulpes) which are considered to be the main vector of the parasite Echinococcus multilocularis. The risk of transmission to humans is thus particularly worrying. The distribution of baits containing a wormer (praziquantel) has already shown promising results in rural areas and on...

Alveolar echinococcosis is one of today major zoonoses. Its infectious agent, the parasite E. multilocularis, is reckoned to be widely present throughout the northern hemisphere. Nonetheless its geographic distribution at a lower scale (continental or national) is hardly described.. In France, data acquired until the early 2000's showed endernic ar...

Geographical information systems (GIS) have been widely used to map disease distribution. Spatial statistics and modelling have been complementary applied to detect spatial and temporal patterns and to correlate them to environmental variables obtained from remote sensed data. Displaying the spatial variations of parasite incidence help to detect w...

Comprendre les mécanismes d'émergence régionale et mondiale d'organismes pathogènes dans le cadre des changements globaux constitue un des défis scientifiques posés à l'écologie. Selon les estimations, de 60 % à 80 % des organismes pathogènes pour les humains ont une origine animale ou un lien indirect avec la faune. L'écologie de la transmission d...

"Will there ever be a field of landscape ecotoxicology?". Ainsi John Cairns Jr questionnait-il la communauté des écotoxicologues en 1993, évoquant sa fascination pour les récents développements de l'écologie du paysage (Cairns Jr 1993). L'écotoxicologie, une discipline née de la toxicologie dans les années 1960 qui étudie le devenir et les effets d...

The spatial distribution of total and CaCl(2)-extracted Cd, Pb and Zn concentrations in smelter-impacted soils was investigated over a polluted site (40 km(2)) in Northern France. The study was conducted on 262 soils sampled in woody habitats. Total and extracted concentrations of trace metals (TMs) rose up to 2402 and 59.5 mg kg(-1) for Cd, 41 960...

Although levels of pollutants accumulated in organisms and related deleterious effects may vary in time, few studies have investigated inter-annual and inter-seasonal variations in metallic trace elements (MTE) accumulation and effects in terrestrial animals chronically exposed in contaminated environments. Concentrations of Cd, Pb and Zn were meas...

Anticoagulants (AVKs) are used worldwide for rodent control, the European regulation authorizing their use as biocides (non-agricultural use at the vicinity of houses) and pesticides (agricultural treatments in fields). AVKs induce adaptations by selection of resistant genotypes in target populations and the poisoning of rodent predators with possi...

The functional response of predators to prey density variations has previously been investigated in order to understand predation patterns. However, the consequences of functional response on parasite transmission remain largely unexplored. The rodents Microtus arvalis and Arvicola terrestris are the main prey of the red fox Vulpes vulpes in easter...