In Strongyloides ratti-infected rats, 2 peaks of egg excretion were observed; a large one with maximum egg production
on days 7–8 of infection and a small more inconspicuous one around day 25. The second peak, which had been ignored
in most studies, was produced by adults in the caecum and the colon. The adults were larger in length and had more
embryonated eggs in the uterus compared with adults in the small intestine at day 25 post-infection. It is suggested that
parasitic adults once expelled from the small intestine resettle and recover in the large intestine. Filter paper faecal culture
carried out for 9 days at different days post-infection revealed that the total number of infective larvae that developed
during the second peak was twice the number that developed during the first peak, despite the fact that total egg output
during the second peak was less than one twentieth of the first peak. The results suggest that the small second peak was
as important as the first one in the transmission of S. ratti.