Note on the occurrence of parasites of the wild nutria (Myocastor coypus, Molina, 1782)

Abstract

164 SummaryWe examined the endoparasites of wild nutria from the native region of South America. Individuals were infected with nineteen species, including Nematoda (82.0 %), Protozoa (46.1 %), Trematoda (33.3 %) and Cestoda (12.8 %). Coccidia (Eimeria sp. or Isospora sp.), Strongyloides myopotami and Trichuris myocastoris were the most abundant and prevalent parasites. The diversity of parasite collected on individual hosts ranged from one to four species. There was no significant association between either the age or the sex of the nutria and the prevalence of parasitism, except that the number of infested nutria less than 1 year by Nematoda was significantly higher than in older individuals. Additionally, Cryptosporidium spp. and Giardia spp. were demonstrated in fecal samples, although scarcely. In general, the accessions were found in good bodily condition and carrying low parasite burdens. These numbers appeared insufficient to indicate gastrointestinal parasitism or parasitic disease.

Genetic and morphological characterization of Trichuris myocastoris found in Myocastor coypus in the Czech Republic

“…myocastoris is a common parasite of wild and domestic nutria (Zajíček 1955;Hohner 1961;Babero and Lee 1961;Pastuszko 1991;Rossin et al 2009;Martino et al 2012). This parasite was identified by Enigk (1933) and Petrov (1941) and redescribed in detail by Baruš et al (1975).…”

“…However, studies on nutria parasites are sporadic and focus mainly on wild nutria from the Americas (Babero and Lee 1961;Rossin et al 2009;Gayo et al 2011;Martino et al 2012). The most common endoparasites of wild nutria are Eimeria spp., Longistriata maldonadoi, Strongyloides myopotami and Trichuris myocastoris (Babero and Lee 1961;Pastuszko 1991;Rossin et al 2009;Martino et al 2012); for European nutria, they are mainly coccidia, S. myopotami and T. myocastoris (Zajíček 1955;Hohner 1961;Pastuszko 1991). Pellérdy (1963Pellérdy ( , 1974 reported the following coccidia in nutria: Eimeria myopotami, Eimeria pellucida, Eimeria coypi, Eimeria seideli and Eimeria nutriae.…”

Histopathological findings in wild Nutrias (<i>Myocastor coypus</i>) with <i>Capillaria hepatica</i> infection

“…However, Capillaria hepatica infection in nutrias is relatively very rare, and its histopathological characteristics have not been reported in detail [15, 16, 19]. Therefore, we describe macro- and microscopic characteristics of C. hepatica infection of wild nutrias which were different from those observed in rats and mice.…”

“…Nutrias have been reported as reservoirs or carriers of a variety of pathogens and parasites in many countries, such as Fasciola hepatica , Strongyloids myopotami , Toxoplasma gondii , Coccidia, Leptospira spp ., Giardia spp., encephalomyocarditis, Chlamydia psittaci and Francisella tularensis [2, 5, 6, 11, 15, 17, 23]. However, Capillaria hepatica infection in nutrias is relatively very rare, and its histopathological characteristics have not been reported in detail [15, 16, 19].…”

“…However, there are still occasional reports of their occurrence in wildlife, such as a raccoon dog [14] and nutria [19]. C. hepatica infection of nutrias in other countries has been very rare compared to other parasite infections, with 3.6% and 1.9% infection rates were reported for Argentina and Japan, respectively [15, 16]. While these low infection rates may be due to low distribution of C. hepatica in the environment, we speculate that they may be related to possible resolution of the eggs within the hepatic granuloma of nutrias.…”