The red fox (Vulpes vulpes) is an introduced species to Australia whose population and spatial distribution have grown irreversibly. Due to their opportunistic feeding habits, extensive populations of foxes now inhabit urban and rural environments, where they coexist with humans and domesticated animals. The proximity of these predators presents public and animal health concerns as they harbour diseases that can cross between species. Accordingly, monitoring potential disease risk and prevalence in urban foxes is warranted. This study investigated the occurrence of gastrointestinal parasites in urban and rural foxes around Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The gastrointestinal tracts of 51 opportunistically collected foxes were thoroughly examined to collect adult helminth (i.e., nematode and cestode) parasites from the stomach as well as from the small and large intestines. The results showed that 92.2 % of foxes were infected with at least one gastrointestinal helminth parasite. Based on a morphological identification of worms, the detected nematode parasites were Toxocara canis (66.7 %) and Uncinaria stenocephala (56.9 %), while the identified tapeworms included Dipylidium caninum (39.2 %), Taenia spp. (11.8 %) and Spirometra mansoni (5.9 %). Single cases of Trichuris vulpis and Physalopetra sp. infections were detected. This study highlights a human and domestic animal health risk, as a crossover of parasitic infections is possible in areas where these parasites coexist.

Ticks are haematophagous ectoparasites and vectors of a diverse range of pathogens, exerting substantial impacts on wildlife, domestic animals and public health. In Australia, despite the country’s rich and unique biodiversity, a comprehensive understanding of ticks and tick-borne pathogens associated with wildlife remains limited. Environmental change, urban expansion and climate variability are increasingly disrupting wildlife habitats, potentially intensifying interactions between wildlife hosts, ticks and humans. A broad evidence synthesis of studies published between January 1940 and March 2024 was conducted, retrieving 133 eligible records from Web of Science, CABI Abstracts and PubMed databases. Fifty tick species parasitising 160 wildlife species were identified, predominantly from the genera Ixodes, Amblyomma and Haemaphysalis. The most commonly reported hosts included marsupials, particularly bandicoots, wallabies and possums, with notable tick species being Ixodes tasmani, Ixodes holocyclus and Amblyomma triguttatum. Microorganism records were relatively limited and mostly represented molecular detections or reported associations, including Babesia, Borrelia, Coxiella, Rickettsia and Theileria species, rather than confirmed vector competence, reservoir status or pathogenicity. Key limitations included geographic sampling biases towards eastern Australia, limited molecular identification of ticks and infrequent pathogen screening, particularly regarding the ecology, epidemiology and molecular diversity of host–vector–microorganism interactions. Improved surveillance, expanded molecular characterisation, and integrated One Health investigations are required to better understand the ecological and public health significance of these host–vector–microorganism interactions.