Echinococcus oligarthrus (Diesing, 1863) from a Panamanian Jaguar (Felis onca L.)

Abstract

FIGURES 1, 2. Echinococcus oligarthrus from a Panamanian jaguar. 1. Maturing proglottid showing position of genital pore and cirrus sac X 100. 2. Hooks from scolex; two large and one small X 500. redescribed the species on the basis of a collection from a jaguarundi (Felis yagouaroundi Geoffroy) that had died at the London Zoo. Recently Thatcher and Sousa (1966, Ann. Trop. Med. Parasit. 60: 405-416) presented a redescription of E. oligarthrus based on Panamanian material from both the previously known felid definitive hosts, and implicated man as a possible intermediate host. The present report supplements the previous paper in that it records E. oligarthrus from the jaguar (Felis onca L.) for the first time. In February 1967, a 75-lb female jaguar was shot near Achiote, Colon Province, Republic of Panama. Examinations of the upper intestinal tract revealed the presence of about 6,000 specimens of Echinococcus. The parasites occurred throughout the small intestine, but were more concentrated in the anterior portion. The worms showed development of the reproductive structures, but they were not gravid. That the worms belong to the species E. oligarthrus is shown by the limited number of testes and the anterior position of the genital pore (Fig. 1). The hook morphology is typical of young specimens of E. oligarthrus. Although the small hooks are almost completely developed, the large hooks lack well-developed handles (Fig. 2). The jaguar was obtained in an area of Panama that Thatcher and Sousa (loc. cit.) had reported to be endemic for E. oligarthrus. To date, infections have been found in four wild felids (two pumas, one jaguarundi, and one jaguar) from the Achiote area. Two young jaguars from the same area were negative.