Natural infection in Pampas fox (Lycalopex gymnocercus) by Lagochilascaris major Leiper, 1910 (Nematoda: Ascarididae) in Buenos Aires, Argentina

Abstract

Lagochilascariosis is an emerging parasitic disease limited to the American continent, caused by nematodes of the genus Lagochilascaris. Its life cycle is heteroxenous, involving natural definitive hosts (wild carnivores), accidental hosts (domestic carnivores and humans), and intermediate hosts (rodents). Here we report, for the first time, the occurrence of Lagochilascaris major in female of a Pampas fox (Lycalopex gymnocercus) which was found in the Mar Chiquita basin, Buenos Aires province, Argentina. At necropsy, multiple Lagochilascaris larvae and several adults (1 female and 5 male) were observed inserted in the mucosa of the trachea and a male was also collected in the stomach. The diagnosis was made by observing the different stages with optical microscopy, by scanning electron microscopy of adult males and coproparasitological analysis. Although cases of lagochilascariosis have been reported in wildlife in different countries of the American continent, in Argentina, cases are really rare and were only found in domestic cats. Graphical abstract ᅟLagochilascariosis is an emerging parasitic disease limited to the American continent. In Argentina, sporadic cases of Lagochilascariosis were reported in domestic cats but this work represents the first record in a wild carnivore (L. gymnocercus) naturally infected with L. major.

First record of Lagochilascaris minor (Nematoda: Ascarididae) in Leopardus geoffroyi (Carnivora: Felidae) in Brazil

“…Presence of lagochilascariasis in wild carnivores (Canidae and Felidae) has been recorded in Venezuela in Speothos venaticus (Lund, 1842) (VOLCAN et al, 1991; in Mexico in Puma concolor Linnaeus, 1771(FALCÓN-ORDAZ et al, 2016; and in Argentina in Lycalopex gymnocercus (G. Fischer, 1814) (SCIOSCIA et al, 2018.…”

Multiparasitism in Crab-eating fox (Cerdocyon thous) (Carnivora: Canidae), including new records, in the Brazilian Pampa - case report

“…The eggs of the parasites of this genus have a thick shell and have between 15 and 45 pits around the circumference (L. major: 33 to 45; L. minor: 15 to 26), similar to a "bottle cap" (Moura et al, 2012;Ferraz et al, 2021). Recently, Scioscia et al (2018) recorded Lagochilascaris minor in Lycalopex gymnocercus in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Vizcaychipi et al (2016) found eggs of Lagochilascaris spp. in vinegar dog (Speothos venaticus) feces in the province of Misiones, in the same country.…”

“…For identification, all structures that could identify or differentiate an egg, in its smallest possible taxon, such as characteristics and shell ornaments, embryonic and larval formation, existence of operculum and aculea, were used. The identification was done by comparing the morphometry found with that of species previously described in the literature for the host species, using an Olympus optical microscope (CX22 series) (Monteiro, 2017;Scioscia et al, 2018;Araujo, 2020;;Izdebska and Rolbiecki, 2020;Ferraz et al, 2021). The mean and standard deviation were calculated using measurements of five eggs, oocysts, and mites, using the EpiTools epidemiological calculator (Sergeant, 2018).…”

Zoonotic parasites in feline coprolites from a holocenic mortuary context from eastern Patagonia (Argentina)

“…However, the eggs of some species are directly infective to the definitive host (Anderson, 2000). Previous studies on carnivores from southern South America stated that ascaririd species found were Toxocara cati, Toxascaris leonina, and Lagochilascaris major (e.g., Beldoménico et al, 2005;González-Acuña et al, 2010;Martínez, Binda, Laffont, & Rodriguez Camon, 2010;Moleón et al, 2015;Scioscia et al, 2018;Vega et al, 2018). Species belonging to these three genera are zoonotic.…”