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A syndrome of progressive neurological signs was noticed in rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) kept in a small wildlife park in mid-July 2000. Three out of 12 common raccoons (Procyon lotor) kept in this park were infected with Baylisascaris procyonis, and the larvae were found from affected rabbits. This outbreak is the first proven B. procyonis larva migrans in Japan, and the potential risk of serious zoonosis by this ascarid species should be considered by pet owners, veterinarians, physicians and public health authorities in this country as in North America where raccoons are endemic.

In an epidemiological survey for Echinococcus multilocularis in rodents and insectivores from the northernmost part of the central mainland of Japan (Honshu), two taeniid species, Taenia crassiceps and Taenia polyacantha, were found in Microtus montebelli and Apodemus argenteus, respectively. The latter is the first record of distribution in Japan, and the former is the second after its first recovery from the central part of Japan. Although we have found neither larval nor strobilar stage of E. multilocularis there, discovery of these taeniid species, having overlapping global distribution with E. multilocularis in red foxes Vulpes vulpes as well as multiple occurrences of hydatid patients having no history of visits to the endemic areas shows the possibility that the life-cycle of E. multilocularis might be maintained at least in the northernmost part of Honshu.