First report of Toxocara cati in the domestic land snail Rumina decollata

Abstract

The prospective role of the land snail Rumina decollata as a potential paratenic host of Toxocara cati for domestic cats was studied. R. decollata specimens and cats' feces were collected from the open spaces of a Buenos Aires city hospital. Cats' feces were analyzed and snails were digested to identify T. cati stages, by morphological and molecular analyses. T. cati larval eggs were recovered from 23.5% (4/17) of the sampled feces. Twenty percent of snail pools (5/25) were confirmed to be positive for Toxocara spp. third larval stage (L3) by PCR. The mean value of total larvae recovered per gram of snail in all positive pools was 5.1, with a maximum 33 L3/pool. This is the first report of T. cati infective larvae in R. decollata domestic snail as a paratenic host, since the relationship between infection in snails and in cats' feces could be demonstrated in a common environment.

Toxocariasis in Carnivora from Argentinean Patagonia: Species molecular identification, hosts, and geographical distribution

“…Unfortunately few data exist on the species’ identity of wild paratenic hosts like small mammals, such as mice of the families Cricetidae and Muridae, and rats with larvae found in tissues or with seropositive prevalence ( Antolová et al, 2013 ; Strube et al, 2013 ; Holland, 2015 ). Other potential routes of transmission should be considered, given that experimental and natural infections were positive in invertebrates, such as oligochaetes ( Hadi and Al Amery, 2010 ), land snails ( Cardillo et al, 2016 ), and different species of Muscidae ( Bunchu et al, 2014 ).…”

The Role of Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) in the Life Cycle of Toxocara spp.

“…The presence of T. canis eggs into the water tanks herein has confirmed the capacity of egg shedding and dispersion into the aquatic environment by the Nile tilapia, as previously observed in other paratenic hosts and mechanical carriers experimentally infected with T. canis embryonated eggs, such as chickens (60), and cockroaches (65,66). Not surprisingly, toxocarosis can be transmitted to human beings by ingestion of invertebrate hosts such as snails (67,68) and earthworms (69), which may play a role as paratenic, mechanical, or biological hosts.…”

Presence of zoonotichelminths in cats (Feliscatus) of condominiums in City of Mexico with special concern to Toxocara cati infection

“…Toxocariasis is caused by the intestinal helminths of the dog and the cat Toxocaracanis and Toxocaracati, respectively [1][2][3]. Both animals are infected by different mechanisms such as: ingestion of embryonated eggs, migration through the placenta of larvae that have remained in the tissues of the mother, ingestion of larvae present in breast milk and the consumption of paratenic hosts with the infective larvae [4]. The female of both helminths produces eggs that are eliminated along with their own fecal matter of the host, thus contaminating the ground of streets, parks and gardens, places where young children usually play, thereby facilitating the transmission, infection and dissemination of the parasitosis.…”