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Lungs of 40 ruminants from Bulgaria with natural small lungworm (Nematoda: Protostrongylidae) infections were investigated, including 16 goats, 15 sheep, 7 mouflons, and 2 chamois. Muellerius capillaris, M. tenuispiculatus, Cystocaulus ocreatus, Neostrongylus linearis, and Protostrongylus brevispiculum infections were predominantly associated with nodular lesions, and Protostrongylus rufescens, Protostrongylus hobmaieri and Protostrongylus rupicaprae were associated with extensive lesions located mainly along the length of the large bronchi. The extent of lung abnormalities was most severe in the sheep. Alveolitis, parasite granulomas, damage of the alveolar septa, hyperplasia of the lung associated lymphoid tissue, and sclerosis of the parenchyma were found upon microscope examinations. In the goats compared to the sheep and mouflons, the terminal bronchi, bronchioles, and alveoli were more affected than the interstitium. Our research shows that the pathological lesions in the lungs of ruminants infected with protostrongylids depend on both the helminth and the host species. To our knowledge, this work is the first to provide data on the pathomorphological lesions in mouflon lungs infected with protostrongylids.

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A description of the morphology of first stage Elaphostrongylus cervi (Nematoda: Protostrongylidae) larvae on materials from Bulgaria is presented. The larvae were obtained from a red deer (Cervus elaphus L.) from the wildlife-breeding station "Vitinya" in the Balkan Mountains. The metric results about the larvae in micrometers are as follows: body length −423 (377-473), maximum body width −20 (18-24), esophagus length −193 (172-217), distance from the anterior body end to the excretory pore −110 (85-134), distance from the anterior body end to the genital premordium −281 (218-324), distance from the anus to the tail tip −37 (32-42), and tail length −11 (10-14). The present data were compared with previous reports on the same species in West and Central Europe. This is the first morphometric description of first stage E. cervi larvae from Bulgaria and Southeast Europe.