Maintenance of Schistosomatium douthitti (Cort, 1914) in the Laboratory (Trematoda: Schistosomatidae)

Abstract

In the United States, in addition to several avian schistosomes and Heterobilharzia americana found in the raccoon and lynx (Price, 1943), we have Schistosomatium douthitti occurring naturally in muskrats and field mice. S. douthitti is readily maintained in the laboratory and its life cycle is essentially the same as the species parasitizing man. In the present paper methods which have proved successful in the maintenance of S. douthitti in the laboratory and the results obtained are recorded. Research with S. douthitti is adaptable to both the small and large laboratory. Since this parasite is not pathogenic for man (except for dermatitis) but produces typical pathology in laboratory animals it is excellent for teaching and demonstration purposes. Moreover, working with S. douthitti does not come under the jurisdiction of the federal quarantine laws and the precautions that must be employed with imported pathogenic material need not be observed. The work herein reported was initiated in the laboratory of Dr. George R. La Rue at the University of Michigan. The data and observations are based on several years of independent research in Ann Arbor, Michigan (RBS), Chicago, Illinois and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (IGK) and over one and one-half year's cooperative work in Tallahassee, Florida (RBS and MMN). Many of the methods outlined in the following paper were not developed by us. We have received much valuable advice and help from various workers interested in schistosomiasis. Visits to the laboratories of Dr. Eloise B. Cram and Mr. Nathan DeWitt, Laboratory of Tropical Diseases, National Institutes of Health, and Dr. Donald V. Moore, Department of Preventive Medicine, New York University Medical School have been