Larvae of Elaphostrongylus cervi in the deer of Scotland

Abstract

Protostrongylid larvae were recovered from the faeces or lungs of red deer (Cervus elaphus), roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) and reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) in Scotland during 1981. Typical protostrongylid first-stage larvae were also recovered from possible intermediate hosts, the grey field slug (Agriolimax reticulata) and the white-soled slug (Arion fasciatus). All these protostrongylid larvae were microscopically identical to those of the nematode Elaphostrongylus cervi. Despite careful search, adult E cervi were not found, but it is concluded that infection with E cervi is widespread in Scottish deer.

Larvae of Elaphostrongylus cervi in a Population of Free-living Red Deer in Italy

“…Adult and larval nematodes were not detected in the arachnoid of the spinal cord, or in the muscles. These results are consistent with results from other European studies (Kutzer and Prosl, 1975;English et al, 1985;Eriksen et al, 1989). In our study, eggs and larval infections were found in 41% of animals; prevalence was highest in adults (71%) as compared to yearlings (14%) and calves (14%).…”

“…This is the first report of E. cervi in freeranging red deer in Italy. The presence of E. cervi in the deer from the study region is not surprising given that the original stock came from Austria and Scotland, where infection with this parasite is common (Kutzer and Prosl, 1975;English et al, 1985;Hollands, 1985).…”

“…Elaphostrongylus cervi can cause nervous and muscular disorders in red deer (Cervus elaphus), and E. cervi has been recorded in domestic and wild cervids in Europe and Asia (English et al, 1985;Anderson, 2000;Lankester, 2001), Australia, Canada (Presidente, 1986;Gajadhar et al, 1994), and New Zealand (Mason and McAllum, 1976). Adult worms were found beneath the epimysium and in the intermuscular connective tissue of the shoulders, chest, back and upper limbs; mature parasites and third and fourth stage larvae were present in the subdural and subarachnoid spaces of the central nervous system (Lankester, 2001).…”

Epidemiology and risk factors analysis of elaphostrongylosis in red deer (Cervus elaphus) from Spain

“…Larvae were quantified in a Favatti counting chamber and expressed as number of L1 per gram of wet faeces (lpg). Larvae were identified to genus level according to their morphology and linear dimensions using the descriptions in Kutzer and Prosl (1975), English et al (1985), Demiaszkiewicz (1986), Rezac (1990) Mason (1995, Gortazar 2001 andLankester (2001). The morphology and size of the dorsal-spined larvae were similar to the first-stage larvae of Elaphostrongylinae and not with those from other protostrongylids with spiny- Fig.…”

Etiopathological aspects of Elaphostrongylus cervi and Varestrongylus sagittatus infections in red deer in Bulgaria

“…The parasitized deer are in a visibly poor health condition, have impaired trophy qualities and useless meat upon shooting. That is why etiological, epidemiological, clinical and pathomorphological investigations on these infections have been carried out in many countries, such as Austria, New Zealand, Scotland, Poland, Denmark, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Spain, Germany and Italy (Kutzer and Prosl 1975;Sutherland 1976;English et al 1985;Demiaszkiewicz 1987;Eriksen et al 1989;Řezáč and Blažek 1991;Pusterla et al 1998;Vicente and Gortazar 2001;Rehbein et al 2002;Bregoli et al 2006). However, these studies are sometimes limited and contradictory.…”