Abstract
The present study reports the first case of the presence of the intestinal nematode Strongyloides sp. in fecal examinations of a male Lutreolina crassicaudata, considered a synanthropic marsupial species with zoonotic potential. The Willis technique was used for the diagnosis. Presence of typical eggs of Strongyloides species in feces was detected. A fecal culture was performed to obtain larval stages, free-living adults and infective third stage larvae (L3) of this nematode after seven days, which was morphologically identified as Strongyloididae. This is the first report of infection by Strongyloides sp. in a tick-tailed opossum from Brazil.
Highlights
Lutreolina crassicaudata popularly known as thick‐tailed opossum is a small marsupial mammal belonging to the Order Didelphimorphia and Family Didelphidae (Gardner, 2005)
A fecal culture was performed to obtain larval stages and free-living adults and presence of infective third stage larvae (L3) with a notched tail, which is a characteristic of the Strongyloides species, was detected after seven days
To obtain morphological and biometric data in order to identify the Strongyloides species involved in this parasitism from parthenogenetic females, artificial infection by subcutaneous inoculation, with insulin syringe and needle, of approximately 50 infective L3, taken from the same fecal culture by the Baermann technique (Ueno and Gonçalves, 1998) was performed in a male Wistar rat (Rattus norvegicus) with one month of age, created in conditions free of prior infection with other nematodes
Summary
Lutreolina crassicaudata popularly known as thick‐tailed opossum is a small marsupial mammal belonging to the Order Didelphimorphia and Family Didelphidae (Gardner, 2005). These marsupials are seeking food and shelter in urban areas, due the destruction of their habitat and ecosystem, compounding the synanthropic fauna of cities (Rossi et al, 2006). This species is poorly studied, the information on the helminth fauna of these mammals are scarce. Valente et al (2001) in Brazil (Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul State) reported Capillaria sp. (Trichuridae) and Aspidodera raillieti Travassos, 1913 (Aspidoderidae) in the small and large intestine of L. crassicaudata, respectively
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