Raccoon roundworm
| Raccoon roundworm | ||||||||||||
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Baylisascaris procyonis larval study |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Baylisascaris procyonis | ||||||||||||
| ( Stefanski & Zarnowski , 1951) |
The Baylisascaris procyonis ( Baylisascaris procyonis ) is in raccoons frequent Fadenwurmart . It has also been detected in the intestines of dogs in the United States . In general, this species is of interest as a potential pathogen of Larva migrans visceralis in animals and humans - also in Europe .
In the intestines of an adult raccoon, 200 raccoon roundworms can live without the host animal being significantly affected. This results in millions of microscopic worm eggs in bear droppings that can sometimes survive for years. The eggs themselves are harmless, but the eggs will develop into infectious larvae within the next 2-4 weeks. Small animals, rodents and birds, which later also serve as food for the raccoons, act as intermediate hosts. In the intestine of the intermediate host, the larvae hatch from the eggs, can penetrate the intestinal wall and implant themselves in various organs or tissues. The nervous system can be severely damaged and lead to lethargy , coordination and balance disorders, damage to the eyes and the brain, coma and, if the infection is more severe, also to the death of the host animal. Larger domestic animals and mammals as false hosts can also survive the infestation without consequences. The larvae are taken up by eating the living or dead intermediate host animals. The raccoon roundworm only reaches its adult stage in the raccoon.
literature
- Johannes Eckert among others: Veterinary Parasitology. welcomed by Josef Boch and Rudolf Supperer. 4., completely reworked. and substantially exp. Edition. Parey, Berlin / Hamburg 1992, ISBN 3-489-52916-2 .
- PJ Gavin, KR Kazacos, ST Shulman: Baylisascariasis. In: Clin Microbiol Rev. 18 (4), Oct 2005, pp. 703-718. Review. PMID 16223954 PMC 1265913 (free full text)