Natural infection of the feline lungworm Aelurostrongylus abstrusus in the invasive snail Achatina fulica from Argentina

VALENTE R; DIAZ JI; SALOMÓN OD; NAVONE GT

VETERINARY PARASITOLOGY

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2017 vol. 235 p. 17 - 19

0304-4017

The giant African snail Achatina fulica is an invasive mollusk native to Africa, the first record in Argentina was in Puerto Iguazú, in northeastern Argentina in 2010. Recently it was reported in Corrientes Province. This snail can act as an intermediate host of Metastrongyloidea nematodes of importance in public healthas: Angiostrongylus cantonensis, Angiostrongylus costaricensis and Angiostrongylus vasorum. Taking into account the presence of A. fulica in Argentina, the objectives of this study is to assess the presence ofMetastrongyloidea nematodes in this mollusk species in Puerto Iguazú, Misiones, close to the international border with Brazil and Paraguay. A total of 451 samples were collected from February 2014 to November 2015. The snails were processed using a digestion technique to recover the parasites. A totalof 206 nematodes larvae were founded in the digestion solution of 10 hosts (P = 2%; MA = 0.5; MI = 21).Third larval stage (L3) nematodes identified as Aelurostrongylus abstrusus were founded parasitizing thesnails. No other larval stage was observed. This species has veterinary importance because it causes?aelurostrongilosis?, also known as feline strongyloidosis. This study constitutes the first record of a Metastrongyloideanematode in A. fulica in Argentina and also highlights the susceptibility of this mollusk asintermediate host of other helminthes of health importance. The present study suggests that there is a need to establish an epidemiological monitoring system in order to prevent the possible installation ofan infected mollusks focus.