Larval development of Aelurostongylus abstrusus in experimentally infected Rumina decollata snails

CARDILLO, N.; ERCOLE, M.; FARIÑA, F.; PASQUALETTI, M.; LOIZA, Y.; PEREZ, M.; BONBONI, A.; RIBICICH,M.

VETERINARY PARASITOLOGY

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2018

0304-4017

Aelurostrongylus abstrusus (Railliet, 1898) is a worldwide distributed lungworm that affects wild and domestic cats, causing bronchopneumonia of varying intensity. Cats become infected by eating slugs and snails with third infective stage larvae (L3). Rumina decollata (Linnaeus, 1758) is a land snail native to Europe, but was accidentally and intentionally introduced into America as biological control of garden snails Helix aspersa. The aim of the present study was to assess the larval development of A. abstrusus in R. decollata snails, to know its potential as intermediate host. For this purpose, first-stage larvae (L1) of A. abstrusus were obtained from the feces of naturally infected cats and doses of 500 L1/snail were given to 24 R. decollata snails breeded and maintained under laboratory conditions. Three snails were killed at 8-10-12-16-22-26-45 and 55 days post-infection (dpi), and the muscular foot and visceral body were separately digested by artificial digestion technique. It was recorded the infection rate, the amount of larvae that completed their development to the infective stage (L3), the dynamic of the infection along the time post-infection, and differences found between larval recuperations from the snail´s foot and viscera. Morphometric parameters of different larval stages were recorded. The average infection rate was 172.17 larvae/ snail, and the mean larvae reaching to the infective stage at the end of the study (L3) was 262 larvae/ snail. The greatest development to L3 started between 16 to 22 days p.i. and most of the larvae were L3 at day 55 p.i. A. abstrusus L3 larvae were recovered from viscera but recuperation from snail´s foot was significantly higher. This is the first report of the development of A. abstrusus infective larvae in R. decollata snail, since the relationship between high levels of infection in snails and high fully development could be demonstrated, concluding its ability as suitable intermediate host for the parasite.