The existence of adult Schistosoma haematobium worm proteins (Sh31/32) homologous to the diagnostic Sm31/32 of S. mansoni is shown. Sm31/32 and Sh31/32, adsorbed on nitrocellulose and kept dry on the bench before immunoblot analysis, were antigenically stable for at least 4 years including storage for 17 months in tropical climates. The antigens react with patient sera in the absence of defined buffers under rather simple conditions (“humid chamber blot”). The results add to the use of these antigens for serodiagnosis of schistosomiasis in endemic areas.

The prophylactic and curative effects of praziquantel and oxamniquine on a Saudi Arabian strain of Schistosoma mansoni in MF-1 mice were assessed. The drugs were administered orally. At 240 mg/kg praziquantel, there was a reduction of 89·1% in adult worm recovery and a marked reduction in tissue deposited eggs. The reduction in adult worm recovery after dosing with 50 mg/kg oxamniquine was 89·2%. At low doses (40 mg/kg praziquantel and 30 mg/kg oxamniquine) administered at 11 days, 5 days and 3 h before and 5, 21 and 49 days after infection, the reduction in adult worm recovery was 0·0%, 65·1%, 58·8%, 33·6%, 0·0% and 76·0% for praziquantel and 0·0%, 66·0%, 60·0%, 41·3%, 10·8% and 79·0% for oxamniquine. Numbers of lung schistosomula and the size of hepatic granulomata were also reduced.

Three age groups of Bulinus natalensis, immature, mature but not yet egg-laying and mature egg-laying, were infected with miracidia of Schistosoma margrebowiei. The growth of infected, exposed but showing no signs of infection, and uninfected control groups, were examined at weekly intervals for ten weeks post exposure. Snails exposed to infection when immature, even in the group where no patent development ensued, showed a statistically significant reduction in growth and this was evident as early as 2–5 weeks post exposure. When infection occurred at the stage prior to egg-laying a significant reduction in growth was seen but only in the group which developed a patent infection. This was also the case for the egg-laying group although the reduction in growth was only significant in the final three weeks of the experiment. Thus in all three age groups, growth rate was reduced and the infected snails were significantly smaller at the end of ten weeks compared with the controls. The reasons for these effects are discussed.

Acquired immunity to Nematospiroidcs dubius was studied in the jird. It was found that a primary infection comprising one or two worms was highly immunogenic and the animals were resistant to challenge infection. Abbreviated infections in which the adult worms were eliminated by treatment with pyrantel also elicited strong resistance to challenge indicating that larval parasites as well as adults were involved in acquired immunity. A small proportion of adult worms completed their development in immune jirds and was recovered 11 days after the challenge infection. However, these worms were rapidly eliminated and few survived to day 16. Trickle infections in which the jirds were exposed to very low numbers of worms at regular intervals were unsuccessful in prolonging the duration of a primary infection. It was concluded that theremarkable sensitivity of the jird to infection with N. dubius should enable small quantities of fractionated parasite derived material to be screened for immunogenicity in this host.

Early in 1938 the writer received a tube of nematodes from Mr. Colin Smee, Entomologist, Department of Agriculture, Zomba, Nyasaland, collected from a rotting peach fruit in which he had been trying to hatch fruit-flies. According to Mr. Smee's letter the worms had formed masses in the fruit and had also appeared on the surface as waving threads or tendrils composed of numerous eelworms massed together. The material had been fixed in glycerine alcohol and consisted of numerous adult males and females as well as large numbers of larval forms. Fixation was not good as although the gross morphology and anatomy was fairly easily discernible, some of the finer structural details were not as clear as one could have wished.

The consequences of previous and concurrent infection with two related species of cestodes, Hymenolepis nana and H. diminuta, were studied in CD1 mice. A H. diminuta infection strongly affected the establishment and the survival of a secondary H. nana egg or cyst infection administered 30 days later. An infection of 20 H. nana eggs strongly protected against a 5-cyst H. diminuta challenge, whereas an infection of 10 H. nana cysts was ineffective; 20 H. nana eggs also protected against a challenge with 5 cysts of H. diminuta administered 5 days later. No effects were observed in either parasite during a concurrent infection established by administration of cysts. An H. nana egg-infection was unable to affect the establishment of a secondary H. nana cyst-infection given 1 month later; however a significant decrease in growth was found. Similar results were found when a primary H. nana egg-infection was followed 5 days later by the homologous cyst-infection. But an infection with 5 H. nana cysts was unable to protect against a homologous challenge of 5 cysts or 20 eggs. The reciprocal cross immunity between the heterologous parasites and the failure of protection of homologous challenges are discussed in relation to light infections.

Acerylcholinesterase (EC 3:1:1:7) and alkaline phoshatase (EC 3:1:3:1) were detected in secretions of Moniezia expansa maintained in vitro. Ultrastructural cytochemical studies demonstrated acetylcholinesterase activity on the surface of the microtriches at the base of the interproglittidal glands and in the gland lumen but not in the distal tegument or the gland cells. Alkaline phoshatase activity was demonstrated in the cytoplasm of the gland cells and especially in their protoplasmic connections with the distal tegument. Activity was also found in the distal tegument and the microtriches. It is suggested that the acetylcholinesterase secreted by M. expansa performs a metabolic role at the worms's surface.

Paragonimus ohirai-infected rats were treated with cyclosporin A (CyA) at different times during the course of infection. CyA (5×80 mg/kg) affected the worm recovery, growth and maturation rates of P. ohirai with respect to control values. This tendency was most remarkable in animals treated 15 days and more after infection with CyA (groups B, +15 to +19 days; C, +25 to +29; D, +35 to +39 and E, +45 to +49). In group A (0 to +4), however, the drug did not affect markedly the growth and maturation of worms, although it significantly lowered worm recovery rates. CyA administration also affected normal migration of P. ohirai in the highly susceptible host (rat), when the drug was administered during the peritoneal and/or liver phase of infection. Thus, in this P. ohirai/rat model, CyA significantly reduced worm recovery rates, and affected the growth, maturation and migration of the worms depending on the time of administration.

The cuticle is smooth. The lateral alae extend from the middle of the oesophagus to the region of the spicules in the males, but in females they are extended further posterior to the middle of the tail or more. The anterior short "pharynx", the procorpus, is poorly differentiated from the remaining cylindrical portion of the oesophagus. Three sclerotized structures are present at the anterior end of the oesophagus. The posterior flaps of the valves of the bulb extend slightly into the dilated lumen of the intestine. The intestine at its commencement is broader than the bulb, and gradually narrows down towards the anus. The excretory pore is situated anterior to the usual pre-bulbar position, and is located at the beginning of the posterior third of the cylindrical oesophagus. It is surrounded by a crown of chitinous rod-like structures. The tail is sharply pointed in both sexes.

Breinlia booliati exhibited nocturnal subperiodicity in its natural host, Rattus sabanus in contrast to experimentally infected laboratory-reared albino rats which showed irregular fluctuations of microfilariae throughout the 24 hour cycle. All the infected albino rats showed a prepatent period between 11–14 weeks postinoculation. Three patterns of microfilaraemia were discerned during the course of infection. 38/49 rats displayed a single peak, 4/49 displayed 2 peaks about 12–15 weeks apart and 7/49 showed a sustained high plateau-like pattern of microfilaraemia.

Cortisone had no effect on microfilarial levels when administered to rats near postpatcncy and some at postpatency.

Fifteen female ICR mice, 6–8 weeks old, were each exposed to 25 metacercarial cysts of Echinostoma caproni. To determine the effects of withholding food on survival, size and distribution of E. caproni in ICR mice, two groups of five each were maintained without food for 1 day (group A) or 2 days (group B) prior to necropsy. Group C consisted of five mice maintained with food for the duration of the experiment. All mice were necropsied at 12 days postinfection. There was no significant difference in worm survival, body area or distribution between group A and C or group B and C mice. The results of this experiment show that short-duration removal of food has no effect on worm survival, size or distribution of E. caproni adults in the small intestine of the ICR mouse.

In a paper recently published in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, the writer describes the discovery of certain small Tylenchoid nematodes in the swollen stems of the seedling oats suffering from frit-fly attack at Winches Farm, St. Albans. Adults of both sexes and larvæ undergoing the last two moults were found in the destroyed plant tissues surrounding the fly larvæ. The spermatized female worms were next discovered within the body-cavity of the frit-fly larvæ. In due course, they were obtained from pupæ of the fly, having increased in size, and finally were found within adult flies of both sexes lying coiled within the abdomen as comparatively large sausage-shaped worms. As a result of the presence of the worm, the flies are sterilised, being unable to develop their reproductive organs. The worms become viviparous and shed large numbers of larvæ into the body-cavity of the fly and these, after undergoing a certain amount of growth, make their way into the gut of the host and pass to the exterior via the anus. In the present communication a brief account is given of the principal observations on the new parasite, its life-history and the effects on the host, described in detail in the original paper.

The efficacy of eight anthelmintics against Ancylostoma caninum larvae in the skeletal muscles of mice was evaluated. Levamisole (5 × 40 mg kg), thiabendazole (5 × 400mg kg), oxfendazole (5 × 100mg kg), albendazole (5× 1OOmg kg), flubendazole (5 × 200 mg kg), benacil (5 × 200 mg kg) and phenacizole (5 × 200mg kg) showed marked larvicidal activity (98 to 99%). Sch 18099 did not show larvicidal activity even at 5×400 mg kg.

In his “Monograph on the Anguillulidae, or Free Nematoids, Marine, Land and Freshwater; with Descriptions of 100 New Species,” published in 1865, Bastian described a nematode which he found in the yellow lichen Xanthoria (then known as Parmelia) parietina. He named it Aphelenchus parietinus, giving a short description and two drawings. His drawings are reproduced in Fig. 1 and his description is as follows:

Sheep reared worm free were used as indicators of the availability of sheep nematode infective larvae during the summer on pasture grazed by ordinary flock ewes and their lambs.

Data were collected in terms of worms found in the test sheep at post mortem examination after periods of three weeks' exposure in the field.

The assay system for antibody responses against Em2, the most specific antigen for serodiagnosis of alveolar echinococcosis (AE), has been established by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) but not by Western blot assay, since Em2 antigen is not protein but carbohydrate in nature. Recently we reported that previously undescribed protein epitopes, designated Em18 and Em16 due to their molecular weights, were good serologic markers for AE by Western blot analysis. It has been shown that Em18 and Em16 are the only two epitopes recognized by commercially available weak positive (cut off) sera for the Em2plus-ELISA.

The material comprises two immature females found in a baboon in Rhodesia. So far as I can gather from the available literature, they appear to be the first record of the genus Gigantorhynchus Hamann, 1892, emend. Yamaguti, 1963 in monkeys; moreover, they are a new locality record of this genus in Africa, since all the hitherto known species occur only in South America (Brazil, Venezuela and Peru).

The genetic diversity within the genus Trichinella was studied using cleavage fragment length polymorphism (CFLP) analysis. The CFLP method generates specific fingerprints based on single nucleotide mutations. By this method the amplified intergenic regions of the 5S rRNA genes of the eight different genotypes of Trichinella were analysed. The CFLP pattern of T. spiralis was completely different compared with the sylvatic species T. britovi, T. nativa, T. nelsoni, and the genotypes Trichinella T5, Trichinella T6 and Trichinella T8. The T. pseudospiralis intergenic region can be differentiated by size from the other species of Trichinella.

In March 2011, a predator killed 33 hooded grebes, Podiceps gallardoi Rumboll (Podicipedidae), a critically endangered species, in a nesting colony at El Cervecero Lake, Santa Cruz Province, Argentina. The viscera of ten birds were examined for helminths. Two new species of Trematoda were recovered from the intestines. The plagiorchid Plagiorchis patagonensis n. sp. is mainly characterized by the larger size of the oral sucker relative to the ventral sucker, and by the distribution of the vitellarium in two lateral fields, confluent between the caecal bifurcation and the ventral sucker. The echinostomatid Euparyphium tobianum n. sp. is mainly characterized by possessing a head collar with 37–39 spines (4 angle spines on each ventral lappet, 4 lateral spines in a single row on each side, and 21–23 dorsal spines in a double row). An unidentified cestode, a tetramerid nematode and a notocotylid trematode were also recovered from the birds. This is the first record of helminths parasitizing the hooded grebe.

One new species of the family Nordiidae Jairajpuri & Siddiqi, 1964 from the enclosure grassland of Qinghai Province, China, Heterodorus qinghaiensis n. sp., is described and illustrated. The new species is characterized by the slender body, 1.29–1.46 mm in length; the granular lateral chord with numerous large depression plaques throughout its entirety; the lip region offset by a distinct depression; amphid goblet-shaped with aperture about half to two-thirds of corresponding body diameter; odontostyle 11–13 μm long; rod-like odontophore without basal flanges; pharyngeal basal expansion about one-third of the total neck length; didelphic genital system containing sperm; ovaries generally not reaching the sphincter level; vulva transversed and sclerotized; female tail conoid with round terminus; 3–5 spaced ventromedial supplements and spicule 32–41 μm long. It is close to H. liangi (Ahmad, Wu & Shaheen, 2002) Andrássy, 2009, H. brevidentatus (Thorne, 1939) Andrássy, 2009, H. monticola Andrássy, 2011, H. morgensis (Loof, 1988) Andrássy, 2009 and H. meghalayensis (Mushtaq, Baniyamuddin & Ahmad, 2007) Andrássy, 2009 in having inconspicuous or no lateral body pores, smaller odontostyle and ventrally curved tail.