Metacestodes of moose, Alces alces, of the Chapleau Crown Game Preserve, Ontario

Abstract

Lungs, liver, spleen, heart, and kidneys of moose, Alces alces, collected from 1963 to 1965 in the Chapleau Crown Game Preserve of northeastern Ontario were examined for parasites. Thirty-eight of 51 moose (75%) were infected with metacestodes of Taenia hydatigena Pallas, 1766; 40 of 54 (74%) with Taenia krabbei Moniez, 1879; and 36 of 54 (67%) with Echinococcus granulosus (Batsch, 1786). Twenty-two of 51 (43%) moose harboured all three species. Each species was more prevalent in older moose than in young moose and intensity of infections increased with the age of moose. Occurrence of small hydatid cysts decreased and large cysts increased with increasing age of moose. Of 1154 hydatid cysts, 95.3% were in lung tissue, 3.6% in liver, 0.9% in spleen, and 1 cyst (0.1%) was recovered from each of heart and kidney. Degenerate cysticerci of T. hydatigena and T. krabbei were observed in all age groups of moose. There was no apparent relationship between intensity of infection with metacestodes and physical condition of moose.