Phillocaulis variegatus: an intermediate host of Angiostrongylus costaricensis in south Brazil

Abstract

Molluscs collected in five localities in the State of Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil) were digested and examined. The infected slugs were identified as Phyllocaulis variegatus and the larvae found were inoculated per os into mice. After 50 days, worms with the caracteristics of Angiostrongylus costaricensis were recovered from the mesenteric arterial system. The results establish the role of P. variegatus as intermediate host of A. costaricensis in south Brazil, where many cases of abdominla angiostrongyliasis have been diagnosed.

Longitudinal clinical and serological survey of abdominal angiostrongyliasis in Guaporé, southern Brazil, from 1995 to 1999

“…Infection was detected mainly in Phyllocaulis variegatus, the first intermediate host described in Brazil 8 with prevalence and parasitic burdens in the range as previously reported 15 . Mollusks were usually found restricted to one area next to the houses, where piles of stones, bricks or hay, and soil cracks had provided shelter, as seen in Figure 5.…”

Distribution, feeding behavior and control strategies of the exotic land snail Achatina fulica (Gastropoda: Pulmonata) in the northeast of Brazil

“…fulica originated in Africa (Bequaert, 1950;Mead, 1995;Simberloff, 1995) and is currently widely distributed in Japan (Mead, 1961;Koyano et. al., 1989), the Indian Islands, Australia, Southeast Asia (AFFA, 2001;Paiva, 2001;Graeff-Teixeira et al, 1995;Shah, 1992;Godan, 1983) and in the American continent (Godan, 1983). In Brazil, the first occurrence of A. fulica was described in the state of São Paulo in April 1996, next to a rural school (Teles et al, 1997).…”

Angiostrongyliasis in the Americas

“…After 19 days of the initial infection, the larvae will have molted twice (passing through the L 2 and L 3 stages, the latter of which is the infective stage for the definitive host). The wild rodents become infected by ingesting parasitized snails, mainly the species Vaginulus (Sarasinula) plebeius in Costa Rica (Morera, 1970) or Phyllocaulis variegatus (Semper, 1885) in Brazil (Graeff-Teixeira et al, 1989). The main rodent hosts are Sigmodon hispidus (Morera et al, 1970) and Oligoryzomys nigripes (Graeff-Teixeira et al, 1990) in these two countries, respectively.…”