Pathological lesions in livers of two Indian sambars (Cervus unicolor niger) infected with paramphistomum explanatum Creplin, 1847; Nasmark, 1937 Gigantocotyle explanatum.
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The seasonal occurrence of Dactylogyrus amphibothrium and Discocotyle sagittata from the gills of ruffe (Gymnocephalus cernuus) and whitefish (Coregonus acronius), respectively was studied in Lake Yli-Kitka, a large oligotrophic lake in Northeast Finland. The lake, located near the Arctic Circle, is ice-covered for 7-8 months of the year. The prevalence of D. amphibothrium infection was 70.7% and remained high throughout all size-classes of fish. The length distribution and developmental stages of the worms indicated two generations per year. The overwintering generation produces a summer generation which lives for only a few weeks and matures in July. Discocotyle sagittata has only one generation yearly. Its worms mature and produce eggs in July-August and recruitment of the new generation starts in the autumn. The prevalence of D. sagittata infection varied between 40% (in January) and 6.7% (in September); smaller fish were more heavily infected than larger fish.
Previously undescribed motile cystophorous cercariae which develop in sporocyst-like germinal sacs in the bullomorph opisthobranch Philine aperta are experimentally shown to develop into Lecithocladium excisum (Digenea, Hemiuridae), a common stomach parasite of mackerel Scomber scombrus in the north-east Atlantic and adjacent seas. Between 3 and 8% of P. aperta from the northern Oresund, Denmark, were infected with cercariae of L. excisum. Ninety per cent were infected with Rhopalura sp. (Orthonectida). Copepods of the genera Acartia, Paracalanus, Pseudocalanus, Eurytemora and Oithona were experimentally infected. Pressure exerted by their mouth limbs caused delivery tube eversion and the injection of the cercarial body into the copepod haemocoel. The metacercariae did not grow in the above mentioned hosts at 12 degrees C, but 590 microns long metacercariae developed within 22 days in laboratory-reared A. tonsa at 18 degrees C. The ctenophore Pleurobrachia pileus and the holoplanktonic polychaete Tomopteris helgolandica, which were found to be naturally infected with metacercariae of L. excisum, may act as transport hosts.
The application of molecular systematics to the parasitic Platyhelminthes (Cestoda, Digenea and Monogenea) over the last decade has advanced our understanding of their interrelationships and evolution substantially. Here we review the current state of play and the early works that led to the molecular-based hypotheses that now predominate in the field; advances in their systematics, taxonomy, classification and phylogeny, as well as trends in species circumscription, molecular targets and analytical methods are discussed for each of the three major parasitic groups. A by-product of this effort has been an ever increasing number of parasitic flatworms characterized genetically, and the useful application of these data to the diagnosis of animal and human pathogens, and to the elucidation of life histories are presented. The final section considers future directions in the field, including taxon sampling, molecular targets of choice, and the current and future utility of mitochondrial and nuclear genomics in systematic study.
Natural infections of three freshwater snails with Fasciola hepatica and/or Paramphistomum daubneyi were studied during two periods in 1996 and 1997 (June-July and September-October) on 18 farms located in the departments of Vienne and Haute Vienne (central France), and known for low prevalences of F. hepatica infections in ruminants. A total of 1573 Lymnaea glabra and 1421 L. truncatula 6 mm high or more were collected in the meadows of 13 farms and dissected under laboratory conditions. Snails with single or concurrent infections of F. hepatica and/or
Six of 10 hamsters fed a single metacercarial cyst of Echinostoma caproni (single-worm infections) and 13 of 19 hamsters fed either 2 or 5 cysts (multiple-worm infections) were infected with adult echinostomes at necropsy 22 days post-infection. Considerable histopathological changes to the small intestine occurred in hamsters carrying single-worm infections. There were no differences in either mean length, width or wet weight of echinostomes in single- versus multiple-worm infections. The mean number of eggs/worm from single-worm infections (525) was significantly greater than that from multiple-worm infections (288). The average percentage of fully developed miracidia/worm from single worms (94%) was similar to that from worms in multiple infections (92-95%). Single worms of E. caproni were capable of self-fertilization and production of viable eggs. Miracidia derived from single worms were as capable of infecting laboratory-reared Biomphalaria glabrata and producing patent rediae as were those from multiple infections.
Domestic chicks were infected with Zygocotyle lunata to determine gross and histopathological effects on the caecal tissues, to observe the method of feeding by worms and to examine the effects of crowding on the growth and development of the worm. Caecal weights and dimensions were significantly reduced in infected chicks. Caecal debris, abundant in control chicks, stained positive for proteins, polysaccharides, acid mucopolysaccharides and neutral fats. Caecal debris was rarely seen in infected chicks. The lumen of the intestinal caeca of the worms contained acellular material which showed protease activity and stained positive for proteins, polysaccharides and acid mucopolysaccharides. Histopathological effects of the infection showed a disruption of the architecture of host caecal mucosa, worm to worm attachment, tissue plugs in the worm acetabulum, and an engorgement of host mucosal tissue with erythrocytes. Stunting due to worm crowding was very evident and by 2 weeks post-infection, worms from single-worm infections were sexually mature and more than twice the length of immature flukes obtained from chicks infected with 100-500 cysts.
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BACKGROUND: The fluke Schistosoma mansoni is the causative agent of intestinal schistosomiasis, a neglected tropical disease, and remains prevalent in certain regions of Brazil. In the municipality of Sumidouro, state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, a low-endemic area for S. mansoni, water rats (Nectomys squamipes) are naturally infected by this trematode. The S. mansoni populations infecting humans and water-rats in Sumidouro exhibit distinct patterns of cercarial emergence (chronotypes) and phenotypic differences between hosts. Previous studies have shown that the adaptation of S. mansoni populations to human hosts (diurnal chronotype) and water rats (nocturnal chronotype) could result in prezygotic isolation. To test this hypothesis, we employed the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 gene (MT-CO1) and microsatellite loci as genetic markers. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We assessed the population structure between the definitive host species and geographically distant isolates collected from two endemic localities (Pamparrão-PAM and Encanto-Soledade-ENC-SOL) in Sumidouro. Additionally, we evaluated the phylogenetic relationships between S. mansoni from Sumidouro and those from other countries. Five haplotypes of the MT-CO1 gene were identified, with haplotypes 3 and 4 exclusive to ENC-SOL, and haplotypes 1, 2, and 3 were shared between humans and water rats. Haplotype 1 was also shared with other Brazilian localities, South American countries and a single locality in West Africa. The remaining haplotypes were exclusive to Sumidouro, indicating local genetic diversity. Population structure analysis revealed no genetic differentiation associated with host species but rather geographical structuring, probably due to the sedentary habits of rodents and the limited movement of humans between localities. This finding indicates that S. mansoni populations with different chronotypes are not genetically isolated and that significant gene flow occurs between them. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, our findings confirm that wild rodents contribute to the maintenance of the S. mansoni life cycle in Sumidouro and can serve as indicators of local transmission hotspots.
Parasitism can affect size in gastropods by altering the host's growth rate, but other morphological effects of parasitism have rarely been examined. In this study, the relationship between variation in host morphology and parasitism was examined in a population of the freshwater snail Elimia livescens. Differences were found in the morphology of snails infected with the digenean Proterometra macrostoma and uninfected snails. In order to differentiate between 2 hypotheses to explain these differences in morphology, snails were experimentally infected in the laboratory and several morphological traits were measured after 180 days. One hypothesis suggests that parasite-induced changes in shell development explain differences in morphology between infected and uninfected snails. The other hypothesis suggests that selective mortality of infected hosts explains the difference. In the experiment, differences were found between infected snails and uninfected snails in overall size but not in any measurements of shape. The short duration of the experiment relative to the duration of most infections may account for why field-infected snails differed in shape but experimentally infected snails did not. Parasite-induced changes in growth rate are the most likely explanation for the larger size of infected snails relative to uninfected snails.
An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) employing monoclonal antibodies was used for detecting Schistosoma mansoni antigens in hemolymph of laboratory snails (Biomphalaria glabrata) in Kenya. Infected laboratory snails shedding cercariae were differentially identified by ELISA from uninfected snails with 100% sensitivity and specificity. Prepatent infections were detected by ELISA from 2 weeks after exposure to miracidia. Thus, ELISA revealed infection 3 weeks before maximal patency was reached (5-6 weeks post-exposure). Infected field snails (B. pfeifferi) shedding cercariae were differentially identified by ELISA, with 100% sensitivity and specificity, from uninfected field snails and from snails naturally infected with other trematodes (echinostomes and strigeids). Prepatent infections with S. mansoni were readily identified by ELISA in field snails. A case is demonstrated where infection rate, as determined by shedding test alone, was 9.8%, whereas the combined figure of prepatent and patent infection rates was 22.9%
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Gymnophalloides seoi n. sp. (Digenea: Gymnophallidae) is described from worms expelled from a naturally infected women in Korea. The patient, a 66-yr-old housewife, experienced severe epigastric discomfort, and fecal examination revealed numerous parasite eggs of 0.019-0.021 x 0.014-0.016 mm. After anthelmintic treatment and purgation, 952 digeneans consisting of 910 adult gymnophallids and 42 heterophyids (2 species) were recovered. The gymnophallid flukes closely resemble Gymnophalloides tokiensis Fujita, 1925 (known only as metacercariae from oysters), type and only previously known species of the genus, except for a difference in the position and orientation of the seminal vesicle. Without experimental proof of identity, the adult gymnophallids have been described as a new species, G. seoi, the only gymnophallid known to infect humans.