Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-r5fsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T05:45:41.961Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The effect of various periods of infection with the nematode Haemonchus contortus on the development of the nematode Nematodirus battus

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2009

C. J. Mapes
Affiliation:
Department of Parasitology, Moredun Research Institute, Edinburgh, 9
R. L. Coop
Affiliation:
Department of Parasitology, Moredun Research Institute, Edinburgh, 9

Extract

A comparison was made between 14-day-old populations of Nematodirus battus from single infections and from those which developed concurrently with Haemonchus contortus from the day of infection and from days 5 and 10 after infection. The numbers of Nematodirus fell with decreasing length of exposure to Haemonchus and were negatively correlated with the numbers of Haemonchus. The percentage of the populations of Nematodirus in the adult stage and the mean worm lengths fell with increasing length of development with Haemonchus, the lowest values being found in infections which developed concurrently with the abomasal worm for the full 14 days (days 0–14). Mean Nematodirus worm lengths were negatively related to abomasal pH and Na+ levels in populations which were concurrent with Haemonchus for the last 9 days (days 5–14) and for the full 14 days of development studied. Nematodirus egg capacity also fell with exposure to Haemonchus, but was lower in the worm populations exposed for the last 9 days than in those exposed for 14 days. Egg capacity was related to abomasal electrolyte levels in populations which had developed concurrently with Haemonchus for the last 9 days and for the full 14 days. Significant differences between the population parameters of Nematodirus from the proximal and middle third of the small intestine were only found in the single Nematodirus infections and in those which were concurrent with Haemonchus for the last 4 days (days 10–14). The differences in the populations of Nematodirus were related to the probable changes in alimentary conditions affected by the different periods of concurrent infections of Haemonchus. It was suggested that the alimentary changes may have caused the loss of adult Nematodirus and have influenced the growth, development and reproductive capacity of the intestinal worm by acting upon the fourthand fifth-stage larvae.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1973

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Christie, M. G., (1970). The fate of very large doses of Haemonchus contortus and their effect on conditions in the ovine abomasum. Journal of Comparative Pathology 80, 89100.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Christie, M. G., & Patterson, J. E., (1963). Improved methods of obtaining clean larva of Haemonchus contortus. Journal of Helminthology 37, 251–4.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Coop, R. L., (1971). The effect of large doses of Haemonchus contortus on the level of plasma pepsinogen and the concentration of electrolytes in the abomasal fluid of sheep. Journal of Comparative Pathology 81, 213–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mapes, C. J., & Coop, R. L., (1970). The interaction of infections of Haemonchus contortus and Nematodirus battus in lambs. I. The effect of massive infections of Haemonchus on subsequent infections of Nematodirus. Journal of Comparative Pathology 80, 123–36.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mapes, C. J., & Coop, R. L., (1971). Effect of concurrent and terminated infections of Haemonchus contortus on the development and reproductive capacity of Nematodirus battus. Journal of Comparative Pathology 81, 479–92.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mapes, C. J., & Coop, R. L., (1972). The development of single infections of Nematodirus battus in lambs. Parasitology 64, 197216.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mapes, C. J., & Coop, R. L., (1973). On the relationship between abomasal electrolytes and some population parameters of Haemonchus and Nematodirus. Parasitology 66, 95100.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed