Dracunculus insignis
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| Dracunculus insignis | ||||||||||||
| Leidy , 1858 |
Dracunculus insignis is a parasitic roundworm of the genus Dracunculus . In host animals that it attacks, it causes dracunculosis .
description
The Dracunculus insignis has a clear gender dimorphism . While males are only 2–3 cm long, the females are 15–36 cm long. The larvae are about 500 μm long.
Occurrence
Dracunculus insignis is a common parasite on raccoons in North America . The worm also occurs there in dogs, mink, otters and skunks.
Stages of development
The development stages of the worm largely correspond to those of the related Medina worm . The intermediate hosts here are not crabs, but frogs.
Symptoms and Treatment of Affected Hosts
After migrating through the host animal's body, the female worm enters the subcutis and causes painful swelling of the skin, often in the limbs. Upon contact with water, the bumps open, allowing the females to release the larvae into the water. There they can be detected by specifically triggering this process.
Treatment is primarily surgic by removing the parasite.
literature
- Thomas Schnieder (Ed.): Veterinary Parasitology. Parey, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3830441355 , pp. 499-500.
Web links
- Dracunculus insignis on the Animal Diversity Web
- Dracunculus insignis with pictures, description of diagnosis and treatment on the University of Pennsylvania website
- Images of the species in the Encyclopedia of Life
Individual evidence
- ↑ Erwin Dahmen, Eugen Weiss (ed.): Outline of the special pathological anatomy of domestic animals. Enke, Stuttgart 2007, ISBN 3830410484 , p. 409.