Gallus gallus domesticus: Paratenic host of Angiostrongylus vasorum

Abstract

Angiostrongylus vasorum, a parasite of the cardiorespiratory system in canids, has a heteroxenous biological cycle in which the intermediate hosts are terrestrial and aquatic mollusks. Generally, canids become infected by ingesting the intermediate host or paratenic hosts, such as amphibians, that contain infective larvae (L3). However, there are no reports of birds as paratenic hosts of A. vasorum. To evaluate the susceptibility and viability of Gallus gallus domesticus as a paratenic host of A. vasorum, 17 Cobb chickens were randomly divided into two groups. The animals in group A were inoculated with third stage larvae of A. vasorum, and those in group B ate snails inoculated with A. vasorum L3. At 30 days post-infection, the chickens were killed, and the muscles and organs were placed in a pepsin–HCl solution (1% HCl (37%), 1% pepsin) for 3h in an oven at 40°C to recover the L3. In group A, 1863 L3 were recovered per chicken. In group B, 2585 L3 were recovered. A dog that ingested organs and tissues from a chicken from group A released first-stage larvae of A. vasorum in its feces 51 days after infection; the dynamics of this process were monitored for 107 days, when treatment with 25mg fenbendazole/kg body weight was performed for 21 days. Chickens nourished with infected snails or with infective L3 may be a source of infection for dogs indicate that G. gallus is a potential paratenic host for this parasite.