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Infection of dogs by Toxocara canis carried by flies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2009

Elizabeth J. Pegg
Elizabeth J. Pegg
Affiliation:
Department of Pathology, The Royal Veterinary College, Royal College Street, London, N. W. 1
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Extract

Attempts were made to infect Stomoxys calcitrans, Lucilia sericata and Musca domestica with embryonated eggs of Toxocara canis and Toxascaris leonina. Only Musca domestica was successfully infected with Toxocara canis eggs.

Six Beagle pups were given anthelmintic treatment and infected flies were then fed to five of them. The five pups were examined at varying intervals, the sixth being used as a control. Four of the experimentally infected pups showed evidence post-mortem of having become infected with Toxocara canis by the ingestion of Musca domestica. Larvae of Toxocara canis were recovered from several tissues. Immature and adult forms were recovered from the intestinal contents. The results suggest that flies of Musca domestica are not only a source of infection to the dog, but that they may be of importance in the spread of toxocariasis in man.

I would like to thank Professor A. O. Betts and Dr W. P. Beresford-Jones for their encouragement and helpful criticism and also Mr G. Yeoman and Mr B. C. Warren of Beecham Research Laboratories, Wheathampstead, for their assistance and for the supply of flies. I am also very grateful to Mr and Mrs D. Appleton, Carmarthenshire, Wales for their co-operation in treating and supplying the beagle pups.

Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 62 , Issue 3 , June 1971 , pp. 409 - 414
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1971

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References

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