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Development of the feline lungworms Aelurostrongylus abstrusus and Troglostrongylus brevior in Helix aspersa snails

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 December 2013

ALESSIO GIANNELLI ,
RAFAEL ANTONIO NASCIMENTO RAMOS ,
GIADA ANNOSCIA ,
ANGELA DI CESARE ,
VITO COLELLA ,
EMANUELE BRIANTI ,
FILIPE DANTAS-TORRES ,
YASEN MUTAFCHIEV  and
DOMENICO OTRANTO
ALESSIO GIANNELLI
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Medicina Veterinaria, Università degli Studi di Bari, Valenzano, Bari, Italy
RAFAEL ANTONIO NASCIMENTO RAMOS
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Medicina Veterinaria, Università degli Studi di Bari, Valenzano, Bari, Italy
GIADA ANNOSCIA
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Medicina Veterinaria, Università degli Studi di Bari, Valenzano, Bari, Italy
ANGELA DI CESARE
Affiliation:
Facoltà di Medicina Veterinaria, Università di Teramo, Teramo, Italy
VITO COLELLA
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Medicina Veterinaria, Università degli Studi di Bari, Valenzano, Bari, Italy
EMANUELE BRIANTI
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Scienze Veterinarie, Università degli Studi di Messina, Polo Universitario Annunziata, Messina, Italy
FILIPE DANTAS-TORRES
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Medicina Veterinaria, Università degli Studi di Bari, Valenzano, Bari, Italy Departamento de Imunologia, Centro de Pesquisas Aggeu Magalhães (Fiocruz-PE), Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil
YASEN MUTAFCHIEV
Affiliation:
Institut po Bioraznoobrazie i Ekosistemni Izsledvaniya, Bŭlgarska Akademiya na Naukite, Sofiya, Bulgaria
DOMENICO OTRANTO*
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Medicina Veterinaria, Università degli Studi di Bari, Valenzano, Bari, Italy
*
* Corresponding author: Dipartimento di Medicina Veterinaria, Università degli Studi di Bari, Valenzano, Bari, Italy. E-mail: domenico.otranto@uniba.it
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Summary

Aelurostrongylus abstrusus (Strongylida, Angiostrongylidae) and Troglostrongylus brevior (Strongylida, Crenosomatidae) are regarded as important lungworm species of domestic felids, with the latter considered an emerging threat in the Mediterranean region. The present study aimed to assess their concurrent development in the mollusc Helix aspersa (Pulmonata, Helicidae). Thirty snails were infested with 100 first-stage larvae (L1) of A. abstrusus and T. brevior, isolated from a naturally infested kitten. Larval development was checked by digesting five specimens at 2, 6 and 11 days post infestation. Larvae retrieved were morphologically described and their identification was confirmed by specific PCR and sequencing. All H. aspersa snails were positive for A. abstrusus and T. brevior, whose larval stages were simultaneously detected at each time point. In addition, snails were exposed to outdoor conditions and examined after overwintering, testing positive up to 120 days post infestation. Data herein presented suggest that A. abstrusus and T. brevior develop in H. aspersa snails and may eventually co-infest cats. Data on the morphology of both parasitic species in H. aspersa provide additional information on their development and identification, to better understand the population dynamics of these lungworms in receptive snails and paratenic hosts.

Keywords

Aelurostrongylus abstrususTroglostrongylus breviorfeline lungwormsHelix aspersasnailslarval developmentmorphological identification

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 141 , Issue 4 , April 2014 , pp. 563 - 569
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

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