The occurrence of the strongylid nematodes Kalicephalus brachycephalus, K. bungari and K. indicus in snake species from Hunan Province, China

Abstract

Kalicephalus is a genus of strongylid nematodes infecting snakes and causing serious diseases and even death when it is complicated with secondary bacterial infections. The infection of snakes with Kalicephalus has been reported in many countries in the world. However, little information is available on the prevalence of Kalicephalus in snakes in China. In the present study, the prevalence of Kalicephalus in snakes was investigated. The worms were examined, counted and identified to species according to existing keys and descriptions. Three species of Kalicephalus, namely K. indicus, K. bungari and K. brachycephalus, were found in six species of snakes (Elaphe carinata, Zaocys dhumnade, Naja najaatra, Elaphe taeniura, Bungarus multicinctus and Dinodon rufozonatum). The total prevalence of Kalicephalus in snakes in Hunan Province was 39.7%. The most common species was K. indicus, with the highest prevalence 72.8%, followed by K. bungari (24.0%). The prevalence of K. brachycephalus was 0.9%. This is the first report on the prevalence of Kalicephalus species in snakes in China, and the findings have important implications for the control of Kalicephalus infections in snakes in China.

The occurrence of the strongylid nematodes, Kalicephalus viparae viparae (Nematoda: Diaphanocephalidae), in viper Snake, Macrovipera lebetina (Reptilia: Viperidae), Southwestern Iran

“…More than 50 species of Kalicephalus have been identified in a wide range of different species of snake as well as humans throughout the world which do not have any host specificity (Chai et al 2003;Santoro et al 2013;Matt et al 2020). Although this reptile intestinal nematode has been reported from various Asian countries including India (Kavitha et al 2014), the Philippines (Kuzmin et al 2013), Nepal (Pun and Maharjan 2016), China (Liu et al 2017), Republic of Korea (Choe et al 2016), Indonesia (Purwaningsih and Mumpuni 2011), Iraq (Anah et al 2019) and Turkey (Düşen et al 2010), there were no reports of Kalicephalus spp. from Iran.…”

“…Among the gastrointestinal helminths of Indian pit viper snakes (Bothrops jararaca), K. inermis was the most commonly identified kalicephalid species (Grego et al 2004). Also, three species of Kalicephalus, namely K. indicus, K. bungari, and K. brachycephalus, were reported in six species of snakes (Elaphe carinata, Zaocys dhumnade, Naja najaatra, Elaphe taeniura, Bungarus multicinctus, and Dinodon rufozonatum) from China, which K. indicus was evaluated as the most common nematode species with the highest prevalence of 72.8% (Liu et al 2017).…”

“…indicus, K. bungari, and K. brachycephalus from six snake species (Liu et al 2017) and K. brachycephalus and K.…”