Angiostrongylus costaricensis: first record of its occurrence in the State of Espirito Santo, Brazil, and a review of its geographic distribution

Abstract

Abdominal angiostrongyliasis is a parasitic disease caused by Angiostrongylus costaricensis, a metastrongylid nematode with wide geographic distribution, occurring from the United States to Argentina. In Brazil, the disease has been reported from the States of Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, Paraná, São Paulo, Federal District of Brasília and Minas Gerais. We report here a case of abdominal angiostrongyliasis in a 9-year-old girl, from Itatiba, State of Espirito Santo, Brazil, submitted to exploratory laparotomy for acute abdomen. Extensive inflammatory lesions of terminal ileum and cecum, with perforations of the first, were present, and ileocecal resection was performed. The pathological picture was characterized by transmural inflammatory granulomatous reaction, extensive eosinophilic infiltration, eosinophilic vasculitis and the presence of worms within a mesenteric artery branch, with histological features of metastrongylid nematodes. This case report contributes to a better knowledge of the geographic distribution of this parasite in Brazil, suggesting that abdominal angiostrongyliasis may represent a disease of medical importance, more than a rarity of academic interest.

Study on the Elimination of Angiostrongylus costaricensis First Stage Larvae in the Experimental Infection of Swiss Mice

“…Human disease has been reported from most countries in the Americas (Pena et al 1995). Wild rodents, like Sigmodon hispidus in Costa Rica and Oryzomys nigripes (Olfers, 1818) in southern Brazil, have been identified as the natural definitive hosts (Morera 1973, Graeff-Teixeira et al 1989.…”

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

“…Most of the knowledge about human infection with Angiostrongylus costaricensis comes from individual or small series reports of surgically treated individuals 14 . In southern Brazil, surgical intervention due to intestinal perforation or obstruction related to abdominal angiostrongyliasis is more frequent than other complicated inflammatory bowel diseases, such as ulcerative colitis and tuberculosis 1 .…”

“…The worms live inside the mesenteric arterial system and terrestrial mollusks are intermediate hosts 13 . Human accidental infection may result in abdominal disease that has already been reported from most countries of Central and South America 14 . Diagnosis is only established through anatomicopathological examination of surgical or biopsy specimens, since there is no evidence of larval elimination in the feces, as seen with experimental infection of rodents 6 13 .…”

Abdominal angiostrongyliasis with involvement of liver histopathologically confirmed: a case report

“…The nematode also requires terrestrial mollusks as intermediate hosts, especially from the family Veronicellidae 4,8 . Children may accidentally eat slugs, or fruits and vegetables contaminated through mucoid secretions 1,19,21 .…”