From time to time attempts have been made to control the spread of sclerostome larvae by treating the manure before use on the pastures or by mechanical means such as ploughing the land to bury the larvae. Various chemicals have been used, including artificial manures and animal waste products. Lucker (1936) buried larvae at varying depths in soils of different quality and measured the percentage that appeared on the surface during periods up to six weeks. Clay soils were almost a complete barrier to vertical migration whereas sandy soils and coarse sand permitted migration, during a period of 3–8 weeks, of appreciable numbers when buried 1–6 inches. He suggests from this evidence that ploughing the land would bury the larvae and therefore reduce the number of infective larvae available to the stock. It would seem to the writer, however, that there is a fallacy in this argument. Ploughing the land would turn the soil over but, even if a plough press were used, many fissures would be left which might form an easier channel for migration to the surface. Infective larvae readily accomplish horizontal migration and the possibility of lateral migration along the overturned turf and up the fissures must not be overlooked. The action of frost and the presence of roots in the overturned sod would possibly be other factors in encouraging vertical migration, not to mention the subsequent preparation of the land required before seeding down again for permanent pasture.

A new species of Dirofilaria, D. (Nochtiella) linstowi n.sp. is described from the subcutaneous tissues of the Grey langur, Presbytis entellus thersites, in Ceylon. The adult worms differ from the hitherto described African and South-east Asian species in several respects, especially spicule size and ratio, arrangement and number of caudal papillae and dimensions of the microfilariae.

Attempts have been made to increase the survival rate of third-stage larvae of Parastrongylus cantonensis during cryopreservation. Parasites were obtained from experimentally infected snails, Biomphalaria glabrata. The maximum non-toxic concentrations of cryoprotectants dimethyl sulphoxide (DMSO) and glycerol were determined as 10% v/v in NCTC 109 medium. Different pre-cooling times and serum additives were assayed to determine their effects on the viability of larvae. Larvae pre-cooled at –20°C for 15–20 minutes before transfer to –70°C had the optimum survival rate. The presence of serum was essential for further cooling to –196°C. There were no differences between native and heat-inactivated sera on the larval viability. The survival of larvae recovered after storage at –196°C was higher in sera collected from the rat, man, or fetal calf than in sera collected from the mouse, dog, or horse. Viability assessed by mouse-infections showed that thawed larvae retained infectivity for susceptible hosts, but it was significantly lower than that of unfrozen control worms.

1. A new species, Cosmocerca kashmirensis n.sp. from the toad, Bufo viridis, in Kashmir, is described. The new species has 19 plectanes in the male tail, of which 3 plectanes are simple rosettes and resemble the compound caudal papillae of the genus Cosmocercoides.

2. The existing species of the genus Cosmocerca Diesing, 1861 are listed and briefly described.

By combining a number of well-known but scattered results, a theoretical model has been constructed to explain the observed quadratic increase in sample variance of egg counts over sample mean with increasing egg concentration. Our contention is that the over-dispersion arises because of inherent variation in volumetric deliveries of faecal suspension onto the counting slide. Even though the observed variation of volumetric deliveries appears to be small, we have shown that it is adequate to cause a considerable increase in egg count variance over mean at not unreasonably high concentrations.

Two new species of Calostraurus Sandars, 1957 (Cestoda: Davaineidae) are described from Australian marsupials, C. thylogale from Tliylogale biltardierii and C. mundayt from Potorous apicalis. A redefinition of the genus is given together with tabulated features of the species.

Mice infected for one to eight weeks with Trichinella spiralis cleared either 51Cr-labelled sheep red blood cells (SRBC) or I-polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) given intravenously. PVP was cleared more rapidly from the blood of mice infected for one week than from uninfected mice with older infections which behaved in a similar manner to the controls. SRBC were consistently cleared faster from the blood of mice infected for one week than from normal mice. If the infections were older than this a more rapid clearance was also demonstrated as long as the infections were reasonably heavy.

Les conceptions concernant les propriétées de la cortisone et l'ACTH ont beaucoup évolué. On considérait ces hormones commenuisibles dans les infections bactériennes et parasitaires puisque leur principale propriété est de neutraliser la réaction inflammatoire, histiocytaire et macrophagique. Or dans beaucoup de cas on a observé des résultats favorables dans différentes infections, et on a fait remarquer que plus le processus septicémique est sévère, meilleur est l'effet obtenu. Dans les infections à protozoaires sanguicoles les résultats sont extrèmement divergents même chez l'homme.

The Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii (Boitard)) is an endangered carnivorous marsupial, limited to the islands of Tasmania in southern Australia. The parasites of the Tasmanian devil are understudied. This study aimed to increase the knowledge of the nematode fauna of Tasmanian devils. Ten Tasmanian devils were examined for parasites from northern and southern Tasmania. Nematodes that were collected were morphologically characterized as two separate species. Molecular sequencing was undertaken to verify the identity of these species. A new genus and species of oxyurid nematode was collected from a single Tasmanian devil from the northern part of Tasmania. The nematode is differentiated from oxyurids described from other Australian amphibians, reptiles and marsupials by the characters of the male posterior end – that is, in having three pairs of caudal papillae, two pairs peri-cloacal, one large pair post-cloacal, a long tapering tail, a stout spicule and a gubernaculum and accessory piece, as well as its much larger overall size. Molecular sequencing was unsuccessful. The remaining nematodes collected from the Tasmanian devil in this study were all identified as Baylisascaris tasmaniensis Sprent, 1970, through morphology and molecular sequencing. This paper presents the first description of a new genus and species of oxyurid nematode from the Tasmanian devil, Sarcophiloxyuris longus n. gen., n. sp. The need to undertake more sampling of the parasites of endangered hosts, such as the Tasmanian devil, to assist with a better understanding of their conservation management, is discussed.

Taenia solium is a zoonotic parasite that causes taeniasis and cysticercosis in humans (as final hosts) and cysticercosis in pigs (as intermediate hosts). The Russian Federation (RF) is traditionally considered as endemic for this zoonosis. However, the epidemiological data on T. solium infection have not been reviewed for the past 20 years, in which time dynamic economical and societal changes have occurred in the RF. The aim of this systematic review was to analyse the status of T. solium infection in RF in the 2000–2019 period. A literature search was conducted, which collected published articles, grey literature and official data on the epidemiology of T. solium taeniasis and cysticercosis in the RF published from 2000. From a total of 2021 articles and 24 official reports originally returned by the search, data were extracted from 12 full text articles and 11 official reports. Taenia solium taeniasis was continuously reported in the RF between 2000 and 2019, with a tenfold decrease in the incidence, from 0.2 per 100,000 population in 2000 to 0.023/100,000 in 2019. Also, the number of administrative units where taeniasis was detected continuously decreased. Cysticercosis in pigs had a declining trend after 2006. In conclusion, although decreasing, T. solium infection is still endemic in several regions and suspected to be endemic in most of the RF.

Because conducting experimental coinfections is intractable in most parasite systems, inferences about the presence and strength of interspecific interactions in parasite communities are often made from analyses of field data. It is unclear whether methods used to test for competition are able to detect competition in field-collected datasets. Data from a study of the intestinal helminth communities of creek chub (Semotilus atromaculatus) were used to explore the potential of commonly available methods to detect negative interactions among parasite species in species-poor, low-intensity communities. Model communities were built in the absence of competition and then modified by four modes of competition. Both parametric and null model approaches were utilized to analyze modelled parasite communities to determine the conditions under which competitive interactions were discerned. Correlations had low Type I error rates but did not reliably detect competition, when present, at a statistically significant level. Results from logistical regressions were similar but showed improved statistical power. Results from null model approaches varied. Envelope analyses had near ideal properties when parasite prevalence was high but had high Type I error rates in low prevalence communities. Co-occurrence analyses demonstrated promising results with certain co-occurrence metrics and randomization algorithms, but also had many more cases of failure to detect competition when present and/or reject competition when it was absent. No analytical approach was clearly superior, and the variability observed in the present investigation mirrors similar efforts, suggesting that clear guidelines for detecting competition in parasite communities with observational data will be elusive.

Trichinellosis is a worldwide zoonotic disease affecting a wide range of mammals, including humans. It has intestinal and muscular phases. The current work was done to experimentally evaluate the efficacy of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) and their combination with albendazole on intestinal and muscular stages of Trichinella spiralis (T. spiralis) infection. We had five main groups of mice: Group 1, non-infected control; Group 2, infected control; Group 3, infected and treated with albendazole; Group 4, infected and treated with ZnO NPs; and Group 5, infected and treated with albendazole and ZnO NPs. Each group was divided into two subgroups (A for the intestinal phase and B for the muscular phase). Drug effects were evaluated by parasitological, histopathological, and biochemical studies, including oxidant/antioxidant analysis and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) gene expression in muscle tissue by quantitative real-time PCR. ZnO NPs resulted in a significant reduction of both intestinal and muscular phases of T. spiralis. Their combination with albendazole resulted in the complete eradication of adult worms and the maximum reduction of larval deposition in muscle tissue. Additionally, the treatment showed improvement in T. spiralis-induced pathological changes and oxidative stress status. Moreover, a significant decrease in VEGF gene expression was detected in the treated groups when compared with the infected control. In conclusion, ZnO NPs presented an antihelminthic effect against both adult and larval stages of T. spiralis. In addition, it enhanced antioxidant status and suppressed angiogenesis in muscle.

Schistosomiasis is a serious health issue in tropical regions, and natural compounds have gained popularity in medical science. This study investigated the potential effects of pumpkin seed oil (PSO) on Biomphalaria [B.] alexandrina snails (Ehrenberg, 1831), Schistosoma [S.] mansoni (Sambon, 1907) miracidium, and cercariae. The chemical composition of PSO was determined using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. A bioassay was performed to evaluate the effects of PSO on snails, miracidia, and cercariae. The results showed no significant mortality of B. alexandrina snails after exposure to PSO, but it caused morphological changes in their hemocytes at 1.0 mg/ml for 24 hours. PSO exhibited larvicidal activity against miracidia after 2 hours of exposure at a LC50 of 618.4 ppm. A significant increase in the mortality rate of miracidia was observed in a dose- and time-dependent manner, reaching a 100% death rate after 10 minutes at LC90 and 15 minutes at LC50 concentration. PSO also showed effective cercaricidal activity after 2 hours of exposure at a LC50 of 290.5 ppm. Histological examination revealed multiple pathological changes in the digestive and hermaphrodite glands. The PSO had genotoxic effects on snails, which exhibited a significant increase [p≤0.05] in comet parameters compared to the control. The findings suggest that PSO has potential as a molluscicide, miracidicide, and cercaricide, making it a possible alternative to traditional molluscicides in controlling schistosomiasis.

The entomopathogenic nematode (EPN), Steinernema yirgalemense, is an effective biological control agent against a variety of important insect pests in South Africa. To develop a South African EPN product feasibly in South Africa, EPNs need to be mass-produced. This study aimed to record the population dynamics of S. yirgalemense with in vitro liquid production in shake flasks, with a protein source of powdered egg yolk. The Erlenmeyer flask results indicated variation between flasks, albeit still achieving high yields. The reasons for attaining such variability in the recovery, yield, and growth stages are unclear, hence requiring further studies seeking to increase consistency. The results obtained indicate that, when IJ recovery is low, yields are also low due to relatively few reproductive adults being present in solution, which, in turn, produces more offspring, which later converts to the desired infective juvenile used for product formulation development. For commercial viability, a consistent production system is required that produces predictable yields. This study showed comparable high yields achieved with the flasks and in an early-stage bioreactor setup, being a positive development for S. yirgalemense mass production. Prior to the bioreactor scale-up process, protocol of mass production, the population and growth dynamics of the nematodes in the flask environment requires understanding. This is a positive step, leading to the future commercialisation of a local EPN product.

This study aimed to describe the shedding pattern of gastrointestinal parasite eggs by a wild population of desert bighorn sheep (DBS; Ovis canadensis) in northern Mexico. Seventy-five fresh faecal samples were collected from the ground in each season within an hour after being expelled by these animals. The generalized linear mixed model showed that eggs per gram of faeces were highest in winter (577 ± 399) and lowest in summer (260 ± 198). Generalized linear models revealed that Strongyloides spp. predominated during most seasons with a peak in summer (85% of faecal samples analysed) and the absence of this helminth in winter. Nematodirus spp. was another helminth present in three seasons, with the presence of this nematode in 35% of the faecal samples in spring and 0% in summer. Other parasites in DBS faeces included Bunostomun spp., Trichostrongylus spp., Cooperia spp., Mecistocirrus digitatus, Haemonchus contortus, Chabertia ovina and Eimeria ovinoidalis. There were differences among seasons in the percentage of these helminths and coccidia in faecal samples for all these parasites. It was concluded that helminths egg output in DBS in a semi-arid rangeland is lowest in summer and spring and highest in autumn and winter. Furthermore, it was shown that DBS in the study site do not suffer from severe parasite burden. Therefore, this nematode parasite burden is compatible with the conservation and well-being of this particular population.

During the summer and autumn of 1994, 1995 and 1996, 406 juvenile herring caught off the Swedish west coast were examined for parasites. Amongst those found was the digenean Pseudobacciger harengulae, which represents new host and locality records for this parasite. Pseudobacciger harengulae has been reported from several species of clupeiformes, mostly from tropical and temperate regions of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. The morphology of P. harengulae is described and compared with earlier descriptions of P. harengulae and P. manteri. The possible relationships between P. harengulae and P. manteri are discussed and the validity of the P. manteri is questioned. Most of the specimens (75%) of P. harengulae were found in the pyloric caeca and the remainder (25%) in the intestine.

Global programmes to eliminate lymphatic filariasis (GPELF) require mapping, monitoring and evaluation using filarial antigen diagnostic kits. To meet this objective, a functional single-chain fragment variable (ScFv) specific for filarial Wuchereria bancrofti SXP-1 (Wb-SXP-1) antigen was constructed for the diagnosis of active filarial infection, an alternative to the production of complete antibodies using hybridomas. The variable heavy chain (VH) and the variable light chain (kappa) (Vκ) genes were amplified from the mouse hybridoma cell line and were linked together with a flexible linker by overlap extension polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The ScFv construct (Vκ–Linker–VH) was expressed as a fusion protein with N-terminal His tag in Escherichia coli and purified using immobilized metal affinity chromatography (IMAC) without the addition of reducing agents. Immunoblotting and sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) were used to analyse the antigen binding affinity of purified ScFv. The purified ScFv was found to recognize recombinant and native Wb-SXP-1 antigen in microfilariae (Mf)-positive patient sera. The affinity of ScFv was comparable with that of the monoclonal antibody. The development of recombinant ScFv to replace monoclonal antibody for detection of filarial antigen was achieved. The recombinant ScFv was purified, on-column refolded and its detection ability validated using field samples.

The Eurasian woodcock Scolopax rusticola is a widespread woodland specialist and a widely harvested quarry species throughout its European wintering areas, including Britain. Woodcock are prone to cestodiasis, but prevalence levels and possible effects on body condition remain under-studied. We studied the prevalence, abundance and intensity of cestodiasis in 161 woodcock harvested in four British regions in December and January during two consecutive winters (2013/14 and 2014/15). Cestodiasis prevalence was 90%, and there was no difference in prevalence between birds harvested in Cornwall, Wessex, East Anglia and Scotland. High prevalence levels were explained by the fact that earthworms (Lumbricidae) are intermediate hosts for some cestode species and also the most important dietary component of woodcock. The distribution of cestodiasis in woodcock was aggregated, such that when using the total length of cestodes per sample to measure abundance, 65% of the birds had less than 80 cm. Cestodiasis abundance varied between sexes across regions but the intensity was not affected by region, sex, age or their interactions. The intensity of cestodiasis was positively correlated with fresh weight and pectoral mass, while no significant correlation was found with the abdominal fat pad. Our results suggest that, despite high prevalence levels and intensity of cestodiasis in woodcock, host body condition is not significantly affected and hence it is unlikely that cestodiasis has a major effect on woodcock population dynamics.