The type species of the genus Litomosoides, L. sigmodontis, and L. carinii are two distinct species. As a result, the filaria which is widely used in drug trials has to be reinstated sigmodontis and not carinii.With the exception of the two parasite species of Geomyid rodents, which show affinities with the genus Litomosa, the species of Litomosoides may be devided into two groups, principally 1. Ce travail a été effectué grâce à la subvention F3/181/18 (A) de l'Organisation Mondiale de la Santé.Laboratoire The two new species (L. galizai and L. kohnae) belong to the group sigmodontis; they are characterised by the shape of the buccal capsule, the size of the spicules, the structure of the female body-wall and the microfilaria.

Summary :A filarioid nematode inhabiting the lymphatic vessels of the subserosal rumen and mesenteries associated with a high prevalence of its microfilariae in peripheral blood was observed in Finnish reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus) in 2004 and 2006. Adult specimens were collected by dissecting lymphatic vessels from slaughtered animals, where some of the nematodes were seen through the wall of the dilated vessels as thin white winding threads obscuring the vessel. The morphology of adult worms and microfilaria is described based on light and scanning electron microscopy. These filariae belong to the subfamily Splendidofilariinae of the Onchocercidae and resemble Rumenfilaria andersoni, recovered from different host and localization, the ruminal veins of Alces alces in Canada.Comparison of paratypes of this species revealed only minor differences which were not sufficient to separate the filarioid parasitic in R. tarandus in Finland and we identify the nematode as R. andersoni. However, the findings suggest two different parasite populations. The finalizing of this taxonomic question in the future requires an integrated approach, in which the DNAbased and morphological identifications are consistent. Résumé : FILAIRES LYMPHATIQUES

Summary:The fate of Litomosoides sigmodontis was compared in susceptible BALB/c and resistant B10D2 mice, presenting the same major histocompatibility complex (H-2 d ), with an attempt to dissociate the different elements of the life cycle in order, later, to dissociate the different mechanisms involved. Each female mouse was inoculated once with a small dose of infective larvae (25 L3| or a large dose (100 or 200 L3). In total, 92 BALB/c and 49 B10D2 were studied. Necropsies were performed up to D85 following infection with 25 larvae. The early fate was similar in B10D2 and BALB/c mice; particularly the recovery rate of worms was almost identical during the first month p.i. and represented a quarter of the inoculated larvae. Resistance in B10D2 mice appeared progressively, as judged by retardation of growth and of the fourth moulting, the presence of very small sterile female worms and male worms with abnormal left spicule, and a high frequency of live filariae coated with inflammatory cells and encapsulated dead worms. The L. sigmodontis life span in B10D2 was about half that in BALB/c. Necropsies were carried out up to D20 following infection with 100-200 L3. The recovery rate was increased in BALB/c. Growth was retarded earlier in B10D2 mice, this crowding effect already apparent at D1 0 ; this may indicate a role for metabolic factors. The pattern of the life cycle in both mouse strains confirms recent conclusions on Onchocercinae: the recovery rate is established as soon as the second day during "phase 1 of massive destruction", then it is stable during "phase 2 of insignificant mortality". During phase 1, the infective larvae are immediately destroyed in the subcutaeous tissue if they are not able to escape the inflammatory process by penetrating in local lymphatic vessels. By contrast, phase 2, which is longer than the duration of the third larval stage, indicates there is no mortality linked to the third moulting, at least following a single inoculation. KEY WORDS

Summary :A femal e fourth stage larva of Meningonema, probably of M. peruzzii Orihel et Esslinger, 1973, was recovered in Cameroon, from the cerebtospinal fluid of a pati ent harbouring Loa loa, but without any neurological signs. This observation is the first human case of Meningonema (Filatioidea Splendidofilatiinae) which usually parasitizes the central nervous system of African Cercopithecinae. However, as i ndi cated by Orihel and Esslinger, it seems probabl e that the perstans-like microfilariae described in cases of cerebral filariasis in Zimbabwe bel onged to the same species.

O bservations on the life cycle o f O. ochengi in Simulium damnosum s.l. in Togo.In the focus of human onchocerciasis in Togo (Mono River), the authors collected 250 Simulium damnosum s.l. engorged on a cow parasitized by O. dukei, O. ochengi, O. gutturosa and O. armillata. On 39 Simulium damnosum dissected 24 h after the blood meal, 5 had ingested O. gutturosa, 1 O. armillata, 18 O. dukei and 6 O. ochengi; only for O. ochengi, the microfilariae have reached the hemocoel (3 S. damnosum on 6). From 48 h to 5 days, 6 on 132 S. damnosum contained developing larvae (2 Simulium with young first stage larvae at 48th hour ; 1 with young first stage at 3rd day ;1 with first molting at 4th day; 2 with second molting larvae at 5th day). From 6th to 9th days, 2 Simulium on 89 have infective stages. All these larvae cannot be distinguished from those of O. volvulus.A good presumption does exist that O. ochengi can develop in S. damnosum: crossing of the stomach wall only by these microfilariae, presence of larvae of which the development-stage corres ponds to the moment of the blood-meal, observation of the second molting five days later.It is difficult to ascertain that the three infective stages observed from 6th to 9th day pertain to O. ochengi, because the presence of a natural (human or animal) infestation; but it appears quite impossible that larvae which can develop to the second molting cannot be transformed in an infec tive stage.