Prevalencia de parásitos nematodos Strongylidos asociados al Caracol africano, Achatina fulica, en el Valle del Cauca, Colombia

Abstract

Prevalencia de parásitos nematodos Strongylidos asociados al ABSTRACTObjectives. To establish the presence and prevalence of Strongylida nematode parasites in Achatina fulica in the Valle del Cauca, especially of nematodes that are potentially pathogenic for humans. Materials and methods. A. fulica individuals were collected in nine cities of the Valle del Cauca, Colombia. Direct visual examination was used to identify A. fulica parasites. Nematodes were separated from tissue or collected from mucus, washed in saline solution, and fixed in a hot AFA solution. Samples were mounted in glycerine and observed under the microscope. Results. The general nematode parasite prevalence was 35% in 2013. The city with highest prevalence during 2013 was Cartago (60%), following by Buenaventura (42.9%) and Cali (33%), while during 2014 were Cali (30%) and Buenaventura (30%). The Strongylida nematodes registered were classified in three genera: Angiostrongylus (14.7% prevalence), Aelurostrongylus (2.6%),and Strongyluris (2.6%). The city with highest positive records of Angiostrongylus was Cali during 2014 and Aelurostrongylus was Buenaventura during 2013. Strongyluris genus was recorded only in Cali during 2013, with a prevalence of 11%. Of the nine evaluated cities, five has presence of Angiostrongylus. Conclusions. Three genera of Strongylida nematode were recorded associated with A. fulicas specimens in the Valle del Cauca during 2013 and 2014. Therefore, the role that A. fulica and native mollusk species could be playing in the life cycle of these parasites at the local level should not underestimated.

Achatina fulica (Gastropoda: Pulmonata): Occurrence, environmental aspects and presence of nematodes in Sergipe, Brazil

“…Moreira et al, (2013), affirm that A. fulica due to its characteristic wandering mollusk is more prone to infection by nematodes, as for example A. cantonensis, as reported in the state of Pará. On the other hand, the African giant mollusk has a high reproduction rate and capacity of man-made dispersion, which makes the mollusk more vulnerable to natural infection by nematodes (Córdoba-R et al, 2017). Fischer and Amadigi (2010) and Raut and Barker (2002) identified in their studies that newly hatched individuals of A. fulica are sedentary and feed on eggshells and decaying plant material, and youngsters begin to be dispersive feeding on green leaves, while adults are territorial and exhibit a more erratic behavior by feeding mainly on decomposing material.…”

“…Besides of being host to these parasites, A. fulica may be an intermediate host of Angiostrongylus costaricensis and Angiostrongylus vasorum, and there is no record of the natural transmission in Brazil of these two species (Wang et al, 2008;Graeff-Teixeira et al, 2009;Oliveira et al, 2010;Almeida, 2013;Moreira et al, 2013). In Colombia, at the cities of Cartago, Cali and Boaventura have been identified mollusks A. fulica infected with larvae of Strongyluris sp., A. cantonensis and A. abstrusus (Córdoba-R et al, 2017).…”

Population characterization and parasitological assessment of the giant African snail (Achatina fulica) in urban areas of Cartagena, Colombia

“…The snails examined in this work did not show evidence of infection by nematode parasites, one of the reasons could be the environment in which these snails were found. It has been noted that the African snail prefers sites such as garbage dumps, landfills, and empty lots, places where there is a greater probability of contact with rats, necessary for the nematodes to complete their life cycle 17 . In our case, more than 80% of the analyzed snails were collected in gardens of remarkably well-kept properties given the exclusivity of the sites, and according to interviews with various neighbors, rodents do not frequent these spaces.…”

“…The snails were washed externally and were put to sleep by thermal shock by introducing them in ice water, once they were numb, the shell was broken by using dissection scissors to extract the lung tissue and the rest of the soft organs. The search and collection methods for nematode parasites described by Córdoba et al 17 were used. Briefly, the lung tissue was cut in 1 × 1 cm pieces and placed on microscope slides for observation under a stereoscope.…”

Identificación de helmintos en <i>Didelphis marsupialis</i> (Didelphidae) y <i>Rattus rattus</i> (Muridae) en el área metropolitana de Bucaramanga, Colombia

“…Achatina fulica es hospedador intermediario de los nematodos Angiostrongylus cantonensis y A. costaricencis, causantes de la meningoencefalitis eosinofílica y la angioestrongilosis abdominal, respectivamente (Morera y Céspedesu, 2002;Thiengo, 2010). Córdoba et al 2017, Guerrero et al (2018), y Penagos et al (2019) hallaron los helmintos Angiostrongylus sp., Aelurostrongylus sp., Caenorhabditis sp., Crenosoma sp., Strongyluris sp., y Troglostrongylus sp., en A. fulica en Antioquia, Putumayo, Santander y Valle del Cauca, Colombia. El gusano pulmonar del gato, Aelurostrongylus abstrusus, ha sido hallado en A. fulica en Argentina (Valente et al, 2017).…”